Harry Potter and The Game
by Mr. E Stranger
Summary: When Harry Potter is being sorted, something strange happens. Why are all these words suddenly floating around everyone's heads? Harry Potter / The Gamer
1. Chapter 1

Professor McGonagall waited for Sally-Anne Perks to take her seat before calling the next name on her list. Pursing her lips slightly less than usual she called out "Potter, Harry."

As Harry stepped forward, students all around hall started whispering.

Taking a seat on the stool, Harry saw out towards the hall full of expectant faces, all leaning over each other trying to get a good look at him.

Suddenly everything was dark and a small voice spoke into his ear.

"Now that's interesting."

 _What's interesting?_ thought Harry.

"You are!"

 _You can hear my thoughts?!_

The voice chuckled happily "Of course I can. Now, let me see, where I should put you. Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, A my goodness, yes - and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting... So where shall I put you?"

 _Not Slytherin!_

"Not Slytherin, eh? Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head."

Just as the last word was spoken, Harry felt a sudden thrill shudder through him, and a lightness settled onto his mind.

 _I feel strange._

"Oh my," whispered the voice. "That really is very interesting."

 _Sorry, but really, what's interesting?_

"You'll see soon enough, I'm sure."

Harry felt like he could see the mischievous smirk that he could almost definitely hear in that.

"With your talent, there can be no better place than…"

 _Not Slytherin!_

"RAVENCLAW!"

Harry heard the hat shout the last word out to the whole hall. A little stunned, but thankful that he wasn't sorted into Slytherin, he took off the hat and gasped as he saw.

Floating above the heads of everyone he could see were words. He turned slightly to Professor McGonagall and opened his mouth to ask if this was normal before his eyes shot up to the words above her head, which read as follows:

 **Hogwarts Professor**

 **LV? Minerva McGonagall**

The students at the Ravenclaw table all began clapping loudly with a few cheers, followed closely behind by the rest of the hall.

"Mr. Potter, if you wouldn't mind, please make your way to your house's table," came the clearly impatient voice of McGonagall.

"Uh… right!" Harry finally stood up from the stool, replaced the hat and walked with wide eyes towards the Ravenclaw table.

Taking a seat next to the most recent Ravenclaw newcomer, he dazedly glanced around and tried to smile as the students around him congratulated him and introduced themselves.

"Thomas, Dean," McGonagall called out, as she continued the sorting.

"Welcome to Ravenclaw Harry," whispered a girl's voice next to him.

Turning to his side he smiled and glanced up briefly, confirming the name he heard briefly before his own was called out.

 **Hogwarts Student**

 **LV4 Padma Patil**

"Thank you, Padma," Harry whispered back. "By the way, do you see the words floating above everyone too?"

Padma scrunched her face slightly in confusion, "Words? I don't see any words," she said as she looked around and shook her head again in finality. "I see candles floating about, and the stars in the ceiling."

"Oh. Forget it." Harry felt himself become a little more concerned. This wasn't normal? He wondered if he could ask a professor about it, or maybe the school nurse.

"You're funny Harry," Padma smiled at him but then turned away slightly as she began paying attention to the rest of the sorting ceremony.

Harry decided that he would seek out a professor's opinion and glanced up at the high table for the first time since he was sorted.

At one end of the table sat Hagrid, who caught Harry's eye and gave him a grin and a thumb's up. Harry returned the gesture with a small wave and look across to the aged wizard seated in the center. Albus Dumbledore looked every bit like you would imagine a stereotypical wizard. Brightly coloured robes, long white beard, half-moon spectacles and pointy wizard hat. Dumbledore also caught Harry's eye and gave him a warm smile.

"Weasley, Ron," McGonagall called out, and Harry saw his first friend looking pale green as he made his way to the sorting hat.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted out the hat.

Harry clapped for Ron but felt a bit confused. He wasn't sure if Ron would want to be friends with him now that he was sorted into Ravenclaw. He watched Ron walk to the Gryffindor table and briefly their eyes met. Ron looked just as confused as Harry felt.

As 'Zabini, Blaise' was made a Slytherin, Harry clapped but couldn't stop himself from looking at all the names floating above the heads of those nearby.

Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

Harry looked down for the first time at his empty gold plate. He had only just realized how hungry he was.

Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

"Thank you!"

He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not.

"What does that mean?" Harry asked the other Ravenclaw students.

"Probably nothing," replied one.

"Definitely a riddle," claimed another.

"Are they some kind of animal?" asked Padma.

Before anyone else could provide their own theory the plates in front of them were suddenly piled up with food. The strong aromas made Harry's mouth water almost immediately.

Wasting no time, Harry started to dig into what he could easily claim as the most extravagant and delicious meal he had ever experienced.

"There's so much food!" he said to the others around him.

"I don't think I've ever seen so much food at once," replied a boy across from him.

Harry glanced up briefly at the name floating above him and saw:

 **Hogwarts Student**

 **LV4 Terry Boot**

"Me neither Terry," Harry replied with a wide happy smile.

"Oh! You know my name already," Terry said, looking very happy about this.

"Uh…" Harry realised two things just then. First of all, this meant that Terry couldn't see the names floating around either. Secondly, Harry realised that this way he wouldn't ever get anyone's name wrong.

"Well, yeah," Harry replied lamely and shrugged, but it seemed enough for Terry who just nodded with a smile and carried on eating.

Harry considered this ability of his to see people's names a bit more. It would probably be a bad idea to reveal he knew someone's name before they introduced themselves unless he had a plausible reason to already know it… like having heard it called out during the sorting ceremony.

Apart from being able to see their name, he could also see what he guessed was their job description, or something close to it.

Then there was this LV just before the name. Harry had no idea what that might mean. He looked around at the students close to him and saw they had numbers ranging from 4 all the way to 12. Harry looked a bit further up the table at the older students and with a squint was able to see numbers up to 26.

Harry considered that it might be to do with age, but the numbers didn't seem to match that exactly, as he had seen some clearly older students with lower numbers than some that were only a bit older than he was.

"Is it all true Harry? In the books?" came a voice beyond Padma.

Harry looked and saw a boy named Eddie Carmichael.

"What do you mean? What books?" replied Harry.

"You know, in all your books," Eddie raised his eyebrows at Harry.

"My books? The school textbooks?" Harry was trying to make sense of the question.

"What?" Eddie laughed, and so did some of the students who were listening. "In those books about where you go on adventures, and save the princess, and the rest."

Harry didn't reply immediately. He frowned and considered what Hagrid had told him before, and how everyone seemed to think he was famous. It made sense that there were probably books written about him.

"I don't know, I haven't read them. I didn't even know about them until you just mentioned them," Harry finally replied.

"That's weird," said Terry.

"You mean they aren't real?" asked Eddie.

"Clearly they're not real." said another student besides Eddie.

"Didn't you at least get some money for them Harry?" asked Padma.

Harry's eyes widened a little. "Why would I get money for someone's books?"

"Well, they're using your name, and likeness and all of that. It stands to reason that you'd get royalties," replied Eddie.

"Wow that's really bad!" exclaimed Terry.

"What's bad?" asked Harry, feeling a little too far out of his depth.

"Harry you should probably speak to Professor Flitwick about this," said Padma.

"OK… I guess so," said Harry, not really sure what he would be asking about.

"You could sue them and get really rich Harry," Terry informed him.

"I bet they've made a lot of money off those books." Eddie chimed in.

Seeing that Harry wasn't comfortable with this topic, Eddie decided to talk about something else.

"So, what do you think your favourite class is going to be?" he asked, looking around at all the new first years.

The conversation flowed easily, with Harry providing small contributions. The consensus that Charms was the best didn't really surprise Harry considering his own Head of House was the Charms Professor. Harry learned that Professor Snape who taught Potions was particularly difficult, but as long as you worked hard and didn't cause any trouble he would generally leave you be.

Harry looked up to the High Table once more and noticed Professor Snape looking at him with an odd look. Suddenly a blue rectangle appeared in front of Harry's eyes.

 **A hostile presence has been detected!**

Harry gasped and jumped slightly, looking around to see if anyone else reacted. No one else seemed to look surprised.

Looking at the blue rectangle, Harry noticed that if he moved the direction he looked then it stayed in the same relative place of his vision.

Hesitantly, Harry reached out and poked at it, but his finger passed through without any resistance.

 _Go away!_ thought Harry and it vanished immediately. Staring forwards mutely, Harry wasn't sure what to think except relief that he didn't have a blue rectangle stuck in his eyes forever.

 _Wait, a hostile presence? From where? Was it when I looked at Professor Snape?_

Harry looked back to the High Table but this time Snape was looking away, talking closely with a turban-wearing teacher beside him.

 _No hostile presence anymore?_

Harry considered this again a bit further but was interrupted by Professor Dumbledore rising from his chair and clearing his throat.

"Just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you."

The hall was silent now.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."

Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Gryffindor table.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors."

Harry nodded, understanding that this made sense.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch."

Harry wondered briefly if he would enjoy playing Quidditch. The thought of being on a broom in the sky excited him.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death."

Harry raised his eyebrows at this and looked to those around him, who looked back at him with identical expressions.

"And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

Harry looked about and noticed a couple of older students making their way towards the first years.

"First years, welcome again to Ravenclaw. If you would please follow me, I'll direct you towards the Ravenclaw Tower."

Harry glanced up and briefly noticed that this older boy was LV21 and had the title Hogwarts Prefect.

At the top of a spiral staircase on the fifth floor, Harry and his fellow first years were stopped before a door without a doorknob or keyhole, but a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle.

The prefect faced the small crowd with a serious visage.

"To enter the Ravenclaw Tower you must answer a riddle asked by the eagle knocker; if you answer incorrectly, you must wait for someone else who gets it right."

He raised the knocker and knocked it twice. A mellow feminine voice called out "What always comes, but never arrives?"

The prefect looked around at the first years, "Does anyone know the answer?"

A brown haired girl stepped forward.

 **Hogwarts Student**

 **LV4 Lisa Turpin**

"Tomorrow," she answered with what Harry thought was a lot of confidence.

"You may enter," replied the eagle, and the door swung open.

"Well done," said the prefect with a nod of approval.

The girls and the boys were separated into different corridors and Harry was led to the room he discovered he would be sharing with the other first-year Ravenclaw boys.

"Your trunks are at your beds. Make sure you sleep well. You're expected to excel in your studies here at Hogwarts. Ravenclaw House has a reputation to maintain."

Hearing this, Harry felt a little scared, but also somewhat thrilled. When he was younger he had always been made to underperform because otherwise his Aunt and Uncle would have been very unhappy with him outshining his cousin. Finally, he would be able to try his best. In fact, it was expected of him!

Harry introduced himself to his new dorm mates. He had already met Terry, but the new faces belonged to

 **Hogwarts Student**

 **LV4 Michael Corner**

and

 **Hogwarts Student**

 **LV5 Anthony Goldstein**

"Nice to meet you both. I hope we'll be friends," Harry said trying not to sound too forward.

"Of course!" replied Anthony with a happy smile.

"Sure," nodded Michael, him too with a smile.

Harry smiled back, feeling grateful that he was sorted into Ravenclaw with such nice people.

"But, as great as learning magic is going to be, I am going to miss my video games," said Terry with a sigh.

"Video games? What's that?" asked Anthony as he looked at Terry then at Harry and Michael in confusion.

"Oh, my cousin played a lot of those," supplied Harry.

"Yeah, video games are great!" Michael added.

"They're games that you play with a controller on a television," answered Terry to Anthony.

Anthony looked very confused and Harry wondered why.

"Oh you don't know about any of that do you?" Terry asked.

"I'm afraid I don't, but I definitely want to know," Anthony looked very curious.

Terry and Michael spent the next while explaining to Anthony what exactly video games; televisions; electricity; and more were. It took a while and they needed to cover a lot but it seemed that Anthony was beginning to understand.

"I definitely want to try this out."

Harry agreed that he would like to play too because he had only ever been able to watch his cousin play and even then not for long.

As the dorm mates got ready for bed, Harry went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and caught himself in the mirror. Pausing as he was about to begin brushing he could see in the reflection some words floating above his head in reverse.

 **Hogwarts Student**

 **The Gamer**

 **LV1 Harry Potter**

 _What the…?_

He was LV1? That was the lowest he'd seen of everyone! Was that good? Considering that older students generally had a higher number, he reasoned it probably was a bad thing to be lower.

What's with this description? The Gamer? Was that the reason he could see all of these things? Harry hadn't seen anyone else with two descriptions.

 _A gamer? THE gamer?_

Harry considered what the implications of this might be and decided he didn't really know anything at all about this other than what he could see.

 _I wonder if this means I'm playing a game. Is there a game manual? Or instructions of some sort? I think I remember Dudley always skipping the tutorial._

As Harry thought that last word, a new blue rectangle appeared in his view.

 **Welcome to the tutorial! This will introduce a few basic concepts. There's plenty more to learn, but you can figure that out on your own!**

 **Controls**

 **Status**

 **Skills**

Harry read the words and closed his eyes before he shook his head vigorously. Opening his eyes once again he saw the blue rectangle remained.

"OK…" Harry whispered to himself, then looked back into the dorm room seeing his new friends sitting on their beds chatting still.

 _Controls_ thought Harry.

 **You can control the menus with your hands, voice or even your mind! Sometimes you can't do it every way, sometimes it's only one way. Figure it out.**

Harry grimaced. Was this a big elaborate joke? But then, there was already too much that had been proven true to think this wasn't at least somewhat real. With another thought, the controls tutorial closed.

"Status" Harry whispered this time, testing out whether or not controlling with his voice worked too.

A larger blue rectangle formed this time. Bigger than any before and the information it contained was startling at first.

 **Name:** Harry James Potter  
 **Class:** The Gamer  
 **Title:** Hogwarts Student  
 **Level:** 1  
 **Experience** 0/100  
 **HP:** 100/100  
 **MP:** 2000/2000

 **STR:** 2  
 **VIT:** 5  
 **DEX:** 7  
 **INT:** 7  
 **WIS:** 6  
 **LUK:** 2

 **Points:** 0  
 **Money:** 29G, 2S, 4K

 **Skills:**

None

Deciding to read from top to bottom, Harry swallowed his nerves and pressed on.

His name appeared to be correct, even so far as including his middle name, which wasn't what appeared above his head. His 'Class' is 'The Gamer' apparently. The class made a bit of sense when Harry considered the rest of what he saw. If what he thought was happening was actually happening then he didn't know if he could believe it. Then again, wasn't magic an impossibility to him only a few months ago? What's to say that this isn't something that is just uncommon but still sort of normal?

Moving on, Harry saw his title and nodded absently, as it coincided with the rest of his school mates.

Level 1. So LV meant Level. Wait didn't that mean he was the lowest possible level? He was the only one he'd seen with such a low level too. Harry felt a bit annoyed by this and renewed his feelings of working his hardest in his studies. He assumed that he would gain levels if he studied and learned, considering most of the older students had higher levels and even those of his classmates were higher than his, if only a little.

Experience he thought about for a moment and remembered from the talk earlier about when Terry had mentioned leveling up your character and becoming stronger, and how he would attack enemies and complete quests to gain experience.

Suddenly a blue rectangle appeared above that of his status page.

 **Due to your thoughtfulness and insight you have gained 1 Wisdom!**

Harry gasped again and felt a pleasant little lightness in his head as this message appeared. Dismissing the message with a thought he saw that his WIS now had number 7 beside it.

He was able to gain stats by actions! That was very interesting. Did it actually change anything though? Harry hadn't had any proof that the numbers on his screen were actually an accurate representation of himself so he didn't fully trust it.

Even knowing that it wasn't necessarily real, he wasn't able to control his imagination as he thought about becoming a more intelligent person quickly through this weird ability.

Looking back to his status page he wondered at the meaning of HP and MP.

 _I wonder if the tutorial can provide some more information about this? What is HP?_

 **HP stands for Hit Points which is a representation of your health! Don't let it reach zero or you die!**

Harry blanched at the writing. Death? Did he trust this thing? Was it wise to ignore it if it could somehow be true anyway? Harry decided to trust it for now, as he didn't want to test this particular claim.

Closing this message, Harry thought again. _What is MP?_

 **MP stands for Mana Points which is a representation of your magic and how much you can do before you get super tired.**

The difference between the amount of HP and MP seemed to be very large to Harry but he didn't know if that really meant anything. There was so much he didn't know and he was very curious.

Harry consulted the tutorial about the rest of the words on the status page and felt he generally agreed with the numbers in terms of what they represented. He definitely didn't feel very strong, and he considered his luck to be pretty terrible.

Considering that all he had to do was think deeply about something meant he gained a point of wisdom, Harry was excited about the prospect of improving his other stats through similar means.

Lowering his eyes to money, he knew it was accurate because he had made sure to keep an accurate count of the amount he was given before.

Finally looking at skills, Harry frowned and wondered if this was true. He thought himself quite skilled at certain things, like cooking or gardening, but maybe they weren't there because it wasn't related to magic.

Realising that there was another part of the tutorial that he had yet to access, Harry closed the status screen and thought _Skills_.

 **Skills are gained by repetitive action and provide amazing bonuses! By the way, your skills before today don't count!**

Harry wasn't sure what that meant. Did that mean that he suddenly wasn't able to cook or was it just that he needed to unlock it for the game to count it?

Closing the screen, Harry finally began brushing his teeth while considering the possibilities of this whole thing, if it turned out to be real.

After cleaning up Harry walked back into the dorm room and said goodnight to his new friends. Getting into the bed he couldn't believe how comfortable it was in comparison to his cupboard under the stairs. Within moments Harry was breathing more deeply, not truly realising how overwhelming today had been until just before sleep took him.


	2. Chapter 2

The gentle light of the early morning sun was tracing its way slowly over the carpeted floor between the boys' beds when Harry awoke.

Instead of pulling away his covers and sleepily making his way to perform his early morning chores, Harry stared at the ceiling and smiled.

 _Things have really changed, huh?_ Harry thought to himself as he decided to bask in the warm comfort of his luxurious bed.

Harry was able to hear deep breathing and some very light snoring coming from the other beds in the room. Glancing over to his left, he saw his neighbour Terry was in a deep slumber, and had his class, level and name floating above his head.

 _Oh yeah, that's right. The game._

Harry considered the advice he was given yesterday, to speak to a professor about people making money off his name, and wondered if he might be able to subtly ask about this ability too. Alternatively, he thought, he could go to the school's library and hopefully find something he could read on his own.

Even with his limited experience of the ability, or gift, or whatever anyone would call it, Harry thought that it would probably be best if he didn't make his having it publicly known. Part of him thought that this was just him being careful, but another more honest part figured that if this power was his and only his, then he wanted to be able to keep it to himself. Too many times he had anything even a little special taken away from him. His Aunt and Uncle hadn't allowed him to keep things of his own.

The younger Harry had made sure to keep his secret toys hidden, and his secret thoughts and feelings, like resentment and loneliness, locked away. These were feelings that Harry didn't like since he had never been able to do anything about them.

Looking around the room once more, Harry couldn't help the smile forming. It had been so sudden and his life had changed. Magic was real, his parents were heroes not drunks, and now he had friends! He hoped they would be good friends. Maybe he would even find a best friend.

Harry's thoughts drifted to Ron, the first friend he'd ever made, and he felt the confusion again about whether or not they were still friends. He knew that he would definitely still like to be friends with Ron, so decided that when they next met, he would tell him so.

After a little while, the rest of the boys began to stir, each of them seemed to struggle to escape the tender clutches of their new beds. Harry was the first out of bed and washed. Walking back into the room he was offered good mornings by the others as they slowly completed their morning routines.

"Man, that bed was so comfortable. I didn't want to get out," commented Michael as he looked back longingly at his bed warm covers.

"So comfortable." Anthony nodded his agreement.

"Maybe it's a trick to test us?" suggested Terry with a finger to his chin.

"Like, if you can't get out of the bed then you can't learn magic?" replied Michael with a thoughtful look.

"Yeah, exactly! Like, if you don't have the right stuff, mentally that is, to push yourself, then you fail at the first step." Terry offered this for consideration and the other boys wondered for a moment if that was exactly why their beds were so enticing.

"Maybe we need to make them less comfortable. So it's easier." offered Harry.

"That's probably a good idea," replied Michael before his face looked pained, "but I don't think I can. It would be a crime."

"I feel the same way. It would be an offense." Terry added while nodding sagely at Michael's apparent wisdom before they all broke out into laughter.

"In any case, we should go down for breakfast soon so we can get our class schedule." Anthony reminded them of words told to them by the prefect the previous evening.

"Good point. I'm getting hungry too," said Michael.

Harry nodded as he realised his stomach was complaining lightly even after the feast from before.

"I hope we get to learn some spells today." Terry looked excited.

"Me too," Harry said, feeling his own excitement build.

"Like how to turn into an animal. Like a Dragon." Terry continued with a dreamy look.

"Or a Phoenix." Michael offered.

"Uhh, although I do think that would be really great, I don't think we get to learn that kind of thing," Anthony replied.

"What? Why not? Isn't that part of transfiguration?" countered Terry.

"Well, I'm pretty sure you need to be really powerful to be able to turn into an animal. Also probably not just starting to learn magic," said Anthony.

"Ah. Well, I'm sure we'll still learn some really cool things." Terry didn't seem to be affected so much by that minor detail.

At the Ravenclaw table, Harry wasted no time in grabbing a big breakfast and spent his time chatting excitedly with the students around him about the day to come. Looking around the hall he saw Ron enter and head towards the Gryffindor table, though Ron didn't look his way.

Professor Flitwick, Harry's diminutive Head of House had arrived at the end of the table and had begun to hand out class schedules. As he got closer, Harry glanced up at the words floating above his head.

 **Hogwarts Professor**

 **LV? Filius Flitwick**

That was the second time he'd seen someone with a question mark instead of a number when it came to their level. Harry wasn't entirely sure why this was but considered that since it was only teachers that had this so far, it was probably due to them being a much higher level than the students.

A blue rectangle appeared in Harry's view and startled him slightly.

 **Due to your thoughtfulness and insight, you have gained 1 Wisdom!**

Harry dismissed the window after a pause and confirmed that the number next to WIS in his status window had increased to 8.

 _So all I have to do is think a bit harder than normal about something and I gain some wisdom?_

Harry wondered if he was going to become a truly wise person very quickly and if he would grow a long white beard like Dumbledore. Unable to control himself he let out a laugh as the image entered his mind.

"What's funny? What did I miss?" asked Terry as he looked at Harry expectantly.

"Oh, uh, nothing, I was just thinking of something is all." Harry didn't really know how to explain what he was thinking about and didn't want to make his new friends think he was weird.

 **Persuasion successful!**

 **A skill has been created through a special act! As you were able to successfully persuade your friend, the skill "Persuasion" has been created.**

"Alright then. Looks like we're getting our schedules soon." Terry nodded towards the approaching Professor.

Distracted by the new message, Harry was barely able to nod and hum an affirmative to Terry.

 _A skill! Persuasion?_

Harry dismissed the message and immediately called upon the status screen. Looking to the bottom he could see a new entry listed in the Skills section.

 **Persuasion (Active) Level 1**

As he was trying to figure out what this meant and if it actually did anything, Harry was disturbed by the slightly squeaky voice of his Head of House calling out his name.

"Ah, hello young Mr Potter! Here is your class schedule." Harry was handed a slip of paper with various times and class names, displayed under columns for each day of the week. The first class he would be having looked to be Charms with the very same Professor Flitwick.

"Charms first with me today." Professor Flitwick smiled at his new first years. "I expect you will all be eager to learn!"

"We can't wait Professor!" replied Terry excitedly while the others nodded enthusiastically.

"Excellent! I am looking forward to teaching some eager young minds."

The Professor then leaned towards Harry and in a softer voice said "You know, Charms was your mother's favourite subject. Through all my years in Hogwarts, she was among the very best. She was such a pleasure to teach. I do so hope that you'll share her talent."

"My mum was good at Charms, Professor?" Harry asked, delighted to hear anything at all about his parents. "Did you know her well?"

"Oh she was one of my most favourite students," the Professor replied with a bright smile but then a sad frown replaced it "Such a shame, she had so much potential. She was working on her Charms Mastery."

Harry felt entranced listening to even the smallest information about his mother.

As Professor Flitwick began handing out the sheets of paper to his neighbours, Harry caught his attention again "Um, Professor, do you think we could talk some more about my mother some time?"

"Of course, Mr Potter, I will let you know when we can make some time to talk," replied the Professor a warm smile before he turned back to his task.

Harry was looking forward to that discussion very much. Belatedly he realised that he could use that opportunity to ask about the books containing his likeness, as well as maybe to subtly ask about The Game.

Thinking back to his new skill Persuasion, Harry wondered exactly what it meant to have a specific skill listed, especially when the game's tutorial had mentioned that skills provided bonuses of some kind.

Bringing up the skill list once more, Harry tried to instruct the game to show him more information about the Persuasion skill, but nothing happened. Thinking for a moment, Harry recalled the control tutorial mentioning that sometimes he would need to use his voice or his hands, so he whispered "Persuasion."

Once again, nothing changed on the screen. With a soft sigh, Harry figured that he would look a little _too_ odd if he started poking the air in front of him, so decided to delay the testing of his theory that he needed to touch the screen for when he was alone.

Dismissing the window with a thought, Harry turned to his friends and noticed that they had all finished eating too.

"We should probably go and get our bags and books," Harry suggested.

"Good point. We should probably make sure we arrive at the classroom early too," replied Anthony.

"Let's go!" Terry exclaimed with a grin, getting up first.

Glad that his friends seemed to be as eager as he was, Harry once again resolved to try his best to learn as much as he could. Magic had given him a chance to escape the confines of his relatives expectations, and he would do all he could to make the most of it.

The Charms classroom was located on the third floor of Hogwarts castle. Three rows of desks faced towards the teacher's table, behind which sat a large upholstered chair with a high back which presumably belonged to Professor Flitwick, who was currently absent.

As Harry filed into the classroom he noticed that although he had arrived early, there were already several other students present. Examining the colour of their robes, he confirmed that their Charms class would be shared with the first year Hufflepuffs.

Taking a moment to glance above their heads, Harry saw several names which he vaguely remembered being called out at the sorting ceremony.

"Hello, my name is Harry Potter," said Harry after walking over to the red-headed girl closest to him, LV5 Hogwarts Student - Susan Bones.

"Hello Harry Potter, my name is Susan. Susan Bones. It's nice to finally meet you." Susan replied with a smile.

"Err... finally?" Harry asked, a little unsure what she meant by that, after all, they couldn't have been able to meet each other much earlier than this.

"Well yes, I mean, everyone knows about you. To be honest, most of us have been brought up hearing stories about you." Susan had a slight redness on her cheeks.

"You were?" Harry was concerned that they all might actually know about his less than ideal life with his relatives, "What do the stories say?"

"You remember, about the time you saved the princess after you defeated the dragon," she sighed with a dreamy expression before continuing, "or the other time when you defeated the three wicked witches even without using a wand."

"But… none of that happened." Harry replied with wide eyes.

Susan giggled at that "So humble."

"No, I mean it Susan, none of that is true." Harry continued, "Did you read it in those books about me?"

"Well, of course, they were read to me as a little girl." Susan was beginning to look a little doubtful now.

"I didn't even know they existed until yesterday." Harry sighed, not sure how he felt about people thinking he was some great hero. "I'm just Harry, a normal first year, like everyone else here."

 **Persuasion successful!**

"Oh," Susan looked a little crestfallen. "Um. OK then."

"Yeah… well, I'll talk to you later Susan. I better get to my seat." Harry gave her a small smile as he turned to leave which he was surprised to see Susan returned.

As he walked back to his desk, Harry looked at the blue rectangle he had ignored.

 _I wonder if she would have accepted what I said so quickly if I didn't have the skill._

Closing the window, Harry resolved to discover more about the skill as soon as possible.

At his desk, Harry greeted his fellow Ravenclaws, which now included all the first year girls.

"Hello Padma," Harry greeted the dark-haired girl sat at the desk behind him.

"Good morning Harry. Did you sleep well?" Padma replied.

"Yeah, but we all agreed that our beds were almost too comfortable," Harry said and got a round of agreement from his friends.

"Oh, you guys too? We decided it was probably a test." Padma looked at her new dorm mates who chorused their own agreement.

"Like, a test of mental strength," piped in Terry.

"I wonder if it was just the Ravenclaws," asked Lisa, the girl who had correctly figured out the riddle from before.

"I thought it would be a good idea to make them less comfortable, but then Michael said it would be criminal," said Harry.

"Too right." confirmed Michael, "We'll just have to make sure we discipline ourselves."

"Huh, that's a good point actually. Maybe it's to teach discipline?" suggested Anthony.

"It could be effective. Bit of a strange method though," commented Lisa.

"By the way, shouldn't Professor Flitwick be here by now?" pointed out Padma.

The others looked around realising that they'd been here a while now and their teacher had yet to arrive.

After a few moments, the distinctive sound of giggling seemed to be coming from the front of the room.

Looking to the front and then to each other in confusion, Terry asked: "Did you hear that?"

As the class murmured that they had indeed heard that, Professor Flitwick appeared as if from nowhere, standing on his high backed chair. One blink and you would have missed the slight transition.

"Welcome to charms!" he squeaked with a delighted smile as the class gaped at him.

"Wow!" came a voice.

"That was great!" commented another.

"Professor, how did you do that?" asked Terry eagerly.

"I'm glad you asked Mr. Boot." Professor Flitwick beamed. "What I just did was end the disillusionment charm I had placed upon myself. As you may have worked out, the disillusionment charm can be used to conceal yourself or someone else."

Looking out to the wide eyes before him, Professor Flitwick felt relieved that this little trick worked so well every year.

"What better way to introduce you all to Charms than to give you a demonstration, I say."

The class nodded their approval. Harry definitely wanted to learn how to do that.

"The disillusionment charm is a difficult charm, but don't worry, you will eventually be able to learn it. So long as you work diligently to master the basics, I guarantee you will be able to cast it as well as many other wonderful charms."

Harry felt excited to begin, even with just this one demonstration, Charms seemed to be a class he would enjoy very much. Thinking of how he was told that his mother had enjoyed Charms, Harry felt even more motivated.

"Now class, what we will be doing today is introducing the levitating charm. This is a first-year spell which you will be expected to master and will be tested on at the end of year exams." Professor Flitwick had a more earnest look on his face.

"Please take out your Standard Book of Spells and turn to page twelve. Also, take out your parchment and quill so you can take notes to assist in your learning."

Harry did as instructed, placing his book on his desk and turning to the page which detailed the levitation charm.

Harry grinned to himself as he saw a picture of a man flying out a window and read the accompanying text, 'The Levitation Charm was invented in 1544 by warlock Jarleth Hobart who mistakenly believed that he had at last succeeded in doing what wizardkind had so far failed to do, and learned to fly.'

"As it says in the book," Flitwick continued, "with the levitation charm a witch or wizard can make things fly with the flick of a wand."

Pointing his wand at the feather sat on his desk, the Professor spoke the words "Wingardium Leviosa," at the same time as swishing and flicking his wand. The feather began to gently rise into the air, guided by the wizard's wand movements.

"The charm is an excellent test of your magical skills, wand control and above all, patience. I will pass out some feathers. No better way to learn than to try, I say." with a flick of his wand, the feathers spread out and settled onto the students' desks. "Have a go, but remember, you're only just beginning."

As the feather settled in front of him, Harry eagerly took out his wand and was about to clear his throat for his first attempt when a blue rectangle appeared.

 **Quest created!**

 **Successfully cast the levitation charm on your feather before the end of the class.**

 **Reward: 20 EXP**

 **Failure: None**

 **Accept [Y / N]**

Harry carefully read the message. Somehow he had been offered a quest. Was it because he was in a class? Or perhaps because he was tasked with it by his teacher? Another thing to wonder about.

Harry noted that there seemed to be no downsides to accepting this quest, but supposed that wouldn't always be the case or there wouldn't even be a mention of failure. With the prospect of gaining his first amount of experience points being so appealing Harry thought ' _I accept_ ' and was satisfied to read the next message stating that the quest had been accepted.

Deciding to test a small theory, Harry thought ' _Quests_ ' and was rewarded with a new screen showing him the details of the quest he had just accepted.

Focusing back on the task at hand, Harry looked to his book for detailed instructions on how he should move his wand and the pronunciation of the incantation. After some minutes of reading and re-reading the page, a message appeared.

 **Through diligent effort and education, you have gained 1 Intelligence!**

With wide eyes, Harry read the alert and grinned before dismissing it.

 _Deep thinking and lots of reading. I can do that._

After practicing the wand movements and words separately, Harry turned his attention to the feather. With a little less grace than he would have liked, Harry swished and flicked his wand calling out the spell "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The feather didn't move whatsoever.

A little disappointed, Harry looked at his neighbours and was slightly relieved to see that they were bearing similar results.

Professor Flitwick, who had been walking around giving out pointers to individuals came to Harry, "Swish and flick, Mr. Potter. Let's see."

Determined to show the Professor that he could be talented like his mother, Harry took a deep calming breath before trying once more. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

 **Spellcast successful!**

 **A skill has been created through a special act! As you were able to successfully cast your first spell, the skill "Spellcasting" has been created.**

 **Quest completed.**

 **Reward: 20 XP**

Distracted by the messages, Harry barely noticed the feather shoot into the air before gently falling back to the desk.

"Oh, excellent! Very well done Mr. Potter. Five points to Ravenclaw!" Professor Flitwick declared happily.

Harry was awed. He had done it. He tried his best and he wasn't going to be told off for it. In fact, he had been rewarded.

"Thank you, Professor!" Harry replied as he dismissed the messages with a thought and Flitwick moved on.

"Well done Harry," said a smiling Anthony who seemed to be genuinely pleased for him.

"Way to go Harry." said Terry, "Got any pointers?"

"I just followed what the book said really," Harry said trying to sound humble, "Maybe I got lucky."

"Swish and flick, eh?" Michael added. "Sounds easy enough. Let's all cast it successfully before the end of the class!"

 **Quest created!**

 **Help your friends successfully cast the levitation charm before the end of class.**

 **Reward: 40 EXP, Increased relationship with Ravenclaw Firsties.**

 **Failure: None**

 **Accept [Y / N]**

 _Another quest with no downsides. No reason not to accept it._

After accepting the quest with a thought, Harry spent the rest of the class doing his best to help out his friends.

 **Quest completed.**

 **Reward: 40 EXP, Increased relationship with Ravenclaw Firsties.**

"Excellent work! One house point to each of those who were able to successfully cast the charm." Flitwick seemed thrilled that so many of his young eagles were able to progress so quickly.

"Thanks, Harry," said Anthony, "It really helped to see you cast it."

"No problem," Harry replied with a small blush. "It was nothing really."

"I'll get the next one first," claimed Terry with a competitive grin.

"No way, it'll be me," contended Michael and the two boys mock glared at each other.

"Get in line, it will definitely be our turn next," called Padma from behind them, arms crossed over her chest with a superior look.

"Yeah, you'll have to catch up to us." agreed Lisa with a smirk.

Harry then noticed the other first-year Ravenclaw girls sat on either side of Lisa and Padma nodding their heads and felt bad that he hadn't really spoken to them at all yet. Trying his best to be discreet, Harry looked at their names and saw

 **Hogwarts Student**

 **LV4 Mandy Brocklehurst**

and

 **Hogwarts Student**

 **LV4 Sue Li**

"You've got no chance with Harry on our side," replied Terry with a smug tone.

"What happened to you being first next time?" asked Anthony.

"Uh…" Terry replied intelligently as they all broke out into laughter.

Harry decided that he was really glad he'd been sorted into Ravenclaw.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you for your support and kind words.

* * *

Upon entering the ground floor classroom, Harry felt a similar humbling feeling to that which had overtaken him when he'd first set foot into the Great Hall. Where the Charms classroom had been comfortable and almost cozy, this was a room surrounded by high windows and imposing masonry. There was an almost tangible atmosphere demanding that you behave properly and pay attention.

Keen to be able to learn as much as possible, Harry took a seat in the front row, where atop the teacher's desk, he spotted a tabby cat peering outwards towards him and his friends. Floating slightly above the cat were the name, title, and level belonging to his transfiguration professor Minerva McGonagall.

Harry stared at the cat for a moment before turning back to his friends, deciding that he couldn't give away his recognition, but inwardly somewhat amazed that his ability enabled him to see his teacher's name even in her apparent cat form. Remembering Terry's earlier talk about turning into an animal, Harry was amused and somewhat thrilled, to discover that it wasn't simply wishful thinking.

"It looks like Professor McGonagall isn't here yet either." Harry commented, referencing their last class with a 'late' professor.

"Hmm. You reckon that's her cat?" Terry said, waving his hand towards the statuesque feline.

"Could be. Looks a bit creepy though, don't you think?" replied Michael, who looked somewhat warily towards the disguised professor.

"What? Looks normal to me," said Terry who then smiled fondly at the cat, "in fact, it's pretty cute."

"It's cute," confirmed Anthony.

Harry had to avert his eyes and duck his head as he tried to hold back his laughter.

"Well well, if it isn't Potter." came a drawling voice from behind him.

Harry turned in his seat and tensed slightly as he looked at a smirking Draco Malfoy and his two menacing bodyguards. Taking a moment to glance upwards, Harry was surprised to find Draco was actually level six, the highest he'd seen any first year so far. Draco's two bodyguards, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle were both level three, which were actually quite low compared to the others he'd seen.

Harry sighed inwardly remembering he was still only level one, something he felt an increasing urge to change.

"Hello Malfoy," replied Harry, deciding to try to play nice, "seems that we are in transfiguration together. I'm looking forward to it."

Draco's smirk was momentarily replaced by a confused frown before he recomposed himself.

"I have to admit that I was surprised to see you sorted into Ravenclaw, Potter," Draco had an amazing ability to appear completely disinterested in the person he was talking to, "I suppose that even the hat could make a mistake. At least we know you aren't worthy of being in Slytherin."

Harry debated whether or not he should reveal that the sorting hat _had_ seriously considered placing him in Slytherin but decided that no one really needed to know that.

"I'm very happy to be in Ravenclaw," Harry stated instead, turning to smile briefly at his friends who he noticed were all quietly watching the conversation.

"Yes, well, better than Gryffindor certainly." Draco sniffed derisively at that. "And can you imagine being sorted into Hufflepuff? I don't think I'd be able to face my parents after that. Father would have been so disappointed."

"OK then. Class should be starting soon." Harry replied, hoping that Draco would give up and leave him alone.

 **Persuasion successful!**

 **Through persistent use, your Persuasion skill has increased to level 2!**

Harry tried his best to ignore the message.

"...we'd better find our seats then," Draco said as he nodded briefly at Crabbe and Goyle.

Reading the message quickly, Harry decided that he would make time after this class to review his status and skills properly.

As the Slytherin trio found desks at the back of the room, Harry dismissed the message and turned to his friends who all seemed to be looking him oddly.

"What?" Harry asked a little concerned he had looked strange when reading the message.

"Well, that was a bit weird," said Michael, nodding his head towards the Slytherins.

"Yeah, do you know that guy?" asked Terry.

"Draco Malfoy, and his friends Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. All purebloods" commented Anthony.

Glad that they apparently hadn't noticed him reading the game's messages, Harry nodded. "We met before, but I don't know why he wanted to come and talk to me," said Harry before turning to Anthony directly. "Why did you mention that they're purebloods?"

"To some, it matters, Harry. I don't care, but there's a lot of people in the wizarding world that care about it." Anthony replied.

"Why? Does it make any difference?" Harry wondered if it actually made you more powerful, considering Malfoy's level, but then wasn't really sure because of Crabbe and Goyle's.

"I'm not sure exactly, but I think some people think you're a weaker wizard if you're muggleborn, or even half-blood." said Anthony who was now running his fingers through his own hair as if it would help him think. "I don't think it's ever really been properly tested though. At least officially anyway. I bet that they wouldn't want the evidence to suggest that there was no difference, after all."

"Oh," Harry replied simply. That was something else he would want to check into.

"We can talk more about this later if you want." offered Anthony.

"Sure, it sounds interesting." Harry nodded his acceptance and gave his friend a smile.

"Well that was all very educational, but it seems our magical education is going to be delayed." pointed out Michael, nodding towards to the vacant teacher's chair.

Almost as soon as Michael had finished talking, the previously still tabby cat leaped from the teacher's desk and morphed mid-flight, before landing and becoming a somewhat stern looking Professor McGonagall.

The class gaped, with Harry acting a little more surprised than he truly was, though he did admit the transition itself had been very impressive.

"Guess not," whispered Michael.

Peering at the students through her glasses, which Harry belatedly realised matched the markings surrounding the eyes on the feline form, Professor McGonagall stood in front of her desk and nodded apparently in satisfaction.

"You have just witnessed the animagus transformation. It takes skill, practice, and patience for wizards and witches to become Animagi. One could say that it is the pinnacle of the transfiguration arts. Study diligently and apply yourself with discipline and effort, and you too may be able to accomplish this." Professor McGonagall began, ensuring that the class was sufficiently enthralled. "However. Do not misunderstand. Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

Harry gulped down the nervous feeling the teacher's words were giving him and tried to focus instead on his excitement and desire to learn.

"Today we shall review the very basics of transfiguration. Please take out your copy of 'A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration' and turn to page five. Mastering the fundamentals is imperative. We must all have a solid foundation to build upon or we will find ourselves collapsing under the smallest of pressures."

Harry nodded, absolutely convinced of the wisdom of this statement and took it to heart.

 **Wisdom does not always come from within. By accepting the wisdom of your teacher you have gained 1 Wisdom!**

Harry read the message and smiled satisfactorily. He would heed the wisdom of others and accept it to become a wise person himself.

Professor McGonagall spent the rest of the lesson reading aloud certain passages from the book before making some elaborations and casting relevant transfiguration examples. Although the students hadn't been asked to attempt to cast anything this time, Harry felt that by not doing so underlined the idea that transfiguration was really just that complex.

"You will all write an essay reviewing the basic principles of transfiguration that was covered today. No longer than two feet of parchment. You should be able to succinctly detail today's material. You will hand in your completed essay at the next transfiguration class."

Harry decided he needed to look up some of the words the professors were using in a dictionary and wondered if any of his friends were having the same difficulty.

 **Quest created!**

 **Complete your Transfiguration homework and receive a passing grade.**

 **Reward: 40 EXP, Increased relationship with Professor McGonagall.**

 **Bonus: ?**

 **Failure: Decreased relationship with Professor McGonagall. Detention.**

 **Accept [Y / N]**

Harry read and re-read the quest message. This would be the first time he would have a penalty for failing the quest. Also the first time for a bonus, whatever that was. Harry wanted to do the best he could but felt a little frustrated that the game was withholding information so often.

Accepting the quest with a thought, Harry decided that he would work hard on this essay and show his Professor, and Draco Malfoy, that there was a reason he was sorted into Ravenclaw.

* * *

Taking his first steps into the Hogwarts Library, Harry felt an immediate sense of order and calm settle upon him. In previous years, Harry had used his primary school's library as an escape from his cousin and his cousin's friends who had habitually tormented him. Libraries meant a lot to Harry and he was comforted to have a place like this close by.

Finding an unused desk in a far corner of the library, Harry took out his parchment and quill, as well as his first-year transfiguration textbook and began to write.

Writing with ink and quill was not easy, and not for the first time Harry wished he had been given a little more notice that this particular skill was required of him.

 _Wait a moment. Would using a quill and ink count as a skill to the game?_

Harry cast his mind back to consider how exactly he had caused the game to create the skills **Persuasion** and **Spell Casting** and decided that it was simply through trying that the skill had been created.

 _No, not simply through trying._ Harry corrected himself. _I had to successfully perform the skill._

Concentrating hard on his writing, focusing especially on not spilling any ink or causing any smudges Harry was gratified to see a message appear.

 **A skill has been created through a special act! Through thoughtful and careful attention, the skill "Penmanship" has been created.**

Harry sat back and read the message over again. He wondered whether or not this meant he would be able to create a skill for just about anything.

 _But then, I have been talking a lot and I haven't got a skill for that. Or walking. Or breathing._ Harry smirked inwardly.

 _So maybe it's only things that are considered skills by others? Would someone consider being particularly persuasive a skill? Probably. That's what salesmen do, right?_

Harry opened his status window.

 **Name:** Harry James Potter  
 **Class:** The Gamer  
 **Title:** Hogwarts Student  
 **Level:** 1  
 **Experience** 60/100  
 **HP:** 100/100  
 **MP:** 2000/2000

 **STR:** 2  
 **VIT:** 5  
 **DEX:** 7  
 **INT:** 8  
 **WIS:** 9  
 **LUK:** 2

 **Points:** 0  
 **Money:** 29G, 2S, 4K

 **Skills:**

 **Persuasion** [LV 2]  
 **Spellcasting** [LV 1]  
 **Penmanship** [LV 1]

Looking at his stats, Harry was happy to see that he had already gained three points of Wisdom since he first checked. His intelligence had increased by one point, and the rest had remained the same. Harry found this pretty reasonable as he doubted he had done anything to warrant an increase in any of the other stats.

Reviewing the stats themselves Harry recognised STR meant strength, INT meant intelligence, WIS mean wisdom and LUK likely meant luck. VIT and DEX he wasn't too sure about, so decided to try his theory of a pressing his finger onto VIT.

 **Vitality is the power giving continuance of life, present in all living things.**

Initially somewhat startled that his theory had been correct, he read the message and nodded to himself, as he understood the meaning. Dismissing the window, Harry continued by pressing his finger on DEX.

 **Dexterity** **encompasses a number of physical attributes including hand-eye coordination, agility, reflexes, fine motor skills, balance and speed of movement.**

Looking back up to his stats, Harry wondered at his initial score of seven dexterity. He had usually been able to run away from his cousin quite well and didn't remember ever particularly being called clumsy.

Satisfied that he understood the meaning behind VIT and DEX, Harry moved down to the mysterious skills list and pressed on the skill Persuasion.

 **[Persuasion](Active) LV2 EXP: 15.0%**

 **Persuasion is** **the action or process of persuading someone or of being persuaded to do or believe something. Increases chance of successful persuasion by 10%.**

There was a lot to take in here Harry thought. It seemed that persuasion was an active skill, which Harry assumed meant he had to use it for it to apply its effect. That it was already level two meant that he had been using it without being aware of it. Something else to ponder. Moving on, Harry tapped on Spellcasting.

 **[Spellcasting](Passive) LV1 EXP: 79.4%**

 **The ability to form your magic into a spell and cast it.**

 **Increases chance of successful spellcasting by 5%.**

Harry thought that was somewhat self-explanatory, but couldn't deny the potential of the skill. If at level one it already provided a 5% bonus, he wondered how useful it would be when it was much higher. The only part about this Harry felt a little lost by was how this was classed as a passive skill where persuasion was not. What exactly made this passive and persuasion active? Deciding to think more on that later, Harry opened the skill window for his newest acquisition, Penmanship.

 **[Penmanship](Active) LV1 EXP: 1.2%**

 **The art or skill of writing by hand.**

 **Increases speed without errors by 10%.**

Harry stared at the skill for a moment, a little awed by the potential. This could make his life so much easier. Penmanship already provided a ten percent boost to his error-free writing speed and it was only level one. Imagining it at level ten, with perhaps a ten percent increase per level, Harry almost cackled with glee.

Suddenly a skeptical thought occurred to him.

 _Wait a second, what if these are just representations of my own abilities. Surely if I practice a skill I'd get better regardless of this ability. Is this even doing anything beyond displaying those improvements?_

Harry considered this carefully and cast his mind back to the various messages he had seen.

 _I don't really remember anything that couldn't also be explained as something of my own doing, but with a bit of narration… other than being able to see people's names._

Harry was beginning to wonder if this ability of his was more of an overlay than a world editor. There were cases where the game was able to precede an event, if only by a moment, Harry remembered. The times when he had persuaded someone, he'd notice the message appear before their own response had confirmed that he'd persuaded them.

 _I'm just going to have to test it. The problem is I'm not sure how._ Harry mused.

One thing Harry wasn't certain about was what would happen when he gained enough experience to reach level two. Looking back to his status screen, Harry scanned his eyes up and down before he noticed the 'Points' heading and tapped on it.

 **Points are gained by leveling up and in rare cases as rewards for completing quests. Points can be assigned to your stats to increase them.**

Harry grinned. That was it. All he had to do was level up and put some points into his strength score. If he was able to lift more weight than he could before, then he would know that the game was at least able to change his body.

 _If that were the case, wouldn't I already be wiser and a little more intelligent?_ Harry considered. _But, would I even know if I were? How big of a difference do three points of wisdom or one point of intelligence really make anyway?_

Deciding that he only really had a single course of action, Harry dismissed all the screens with a thought, which incidentally he thought was very handy, and resumed the work on his transfiguration essay.

After a little while, Harry had nearly finished when a new message appeared.

 **Through persistent use, your Penmanship skill has increased to level 2!**

Accessing the skill window again for Penmanship, Harry noticed that it now read that it increased writing speed without errors by 20 percent.

 _It really depends on what the base speed is though. And it could just be because I've been practicing that it feels like I've gotten better. That's how you get better after all._

Harry wasn't yet convinced that the skill actually had any effect on his ability at all.

After he had completed writing his essay to what he hoped was an excellent level, he put away his work, books and writing tools. Looking around he noticed other students were working silently on their own homework and spotted a familiar bushy haired girl a few tables away.

Deciding he wanted to greet Hermione and discuss their classes so far, Harry walked over to her and stopped just as he was about to say hello. Above Hermione's head, he saw her name, title, and level, and was a little surprised.

 **Hogwarts Student**

 **LV7 Hermione Granger**

Hermione was an even higher level than Draco Malfoy.

 _Well then, the question of whether or not purebloods are always going to be higher level, at least in the first year, has been answered, and that answer is no._ Harry didn't know why exactly, but this truly pleased him.

With her back to him, Harry wasn't able to see the book Hermione was hunched over, so he slowly walked to her side while looking at her closely. She had a look of what Harry could only describe as intense concentration as she was all but consuming the thick tome laid on the desk before her. It was almost scary how quickly her eyes moved from one word to the next. Harry wondered if she had a skill that made her reading speed improve and smirked to himself.

 **A skill has been created through a special act! Through continuous observation "Observe" has been created.**

Blinking in surprise, Harry dismissed the window, took a few steps back so he was between a few stacks of bookcases and somewhat secluded and hastily opened the skills window itself.

 **[Observe](Active) LV1 EXP:0.0%**

 **A skill to find the target's information.**

 **You are able to view the following stats:**

 **Name, Level, Title, Class**

Harry thought that this sounded like a very useful skill indeed, depending on how it worked. He looked around for something interesting to use the skill on and turned back to Hermione.

 _Observe,_ Harry thought as he looked at the back of Hermione's bushy head.

 **Hogwarts Student**

 **Bookworm**

 **LV7 Hermione Granger**

Harry stifled a laugh at the obvious class that Hermione apparently had. Unfortunately, Harry felt that this again wasn't convincing enough to prove that the game had any tangible effect beyond relaying information, especially considering it could just be his subconscious opinion.

Turning to the bookshelf across from him, he looked at random to the spine of one of the books a little far away from him. _Observe._

 **One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore**

 **This book covers a thousand different varieties of herbs and fungi found in the magical world.**

Harry decided that this was a very useful ability. He could perceive information that he'd never known before by simply looking at something and thinking about observing them, without having to be at a reading distance.

 _This is almost too good._

Harry looked to the floor and thought _Observe._

 **Imbued floor stone**

 **A stone brick used for flooring. Quite sturdy. Ambient magic has soaked into the material through centuries of residual contact.**

Looking back to the skill window itself, Harry saw that it was now at six percent, which meant it gained two percent experience towards the next level every time he used the skill.

In his status window, Harry noticed that his MP had dropped by thirty points, leaving him with a current value of 1970.

 _How do I regain MP?_ Harry thought.

Once again leaning back into the stacks, Harry pressed his finger onto MP.

 **Mana Points.**

 **Current rate of replenishment: 10 mana per minute**

The words 'current rate' suggested that the value wasn't fixed and could be changed somehow. How that could be achieved, Harry had no idea. Initially, he had thought that perhaps increasing his INT or WIS scores would have also improved his pool of mana points but it hadn't changed at all.

Belatedly, Harry realised that he hadn't measured how many mana points he had spent when he had cast the levitating spell earlier in the day. All that he could say for certain was that casting _wingardium leviosa_ so many times in succession hadn't been enough to deplete the pool so far that the time since hadn't been enough to replenish it back to full.

 **Due to your thoughtfulness and insight, you have gained 1 Wisdom!**

Although a little startled by the sudden message, Harry also felt reassured. He considered his recent musings to be thoughtful and insightful but it had been a while since he had last gained that point of wisdom in transfiguration.

 _It would make sense that it takes longer to get to a higher level of wisdom though._

Closing all the screens with a thought, Harry understood that he had a lot to discover about this ability still. His wisdom stat seemed to be improving way faster than anything else, and he wasn't exactly sure why. Aside from that, the prospect of increasing the level of his skills was exciting, and getting the experience for completing the homework was going to be agonising to wait for.

 _Is there no other way to gain experience?_ Harry wondered as he made his way towards Hermione again.

 _Maybe I could fight monsters or something._ Harry grinned to himself at that thought, then sobered a little when he remembered he was only level one with absolutely no fighting ability.

 _Or maybe I could get some more quests somehow._

Pulling the chair out from under the table across from Hermione didn't seem to be enough to disturb her from her ardent task of reading her tome.

Harry looked at the book and used his observe skill.

 **Hogwarts: A History by Bathilda Bagshot**

 **A book concerning Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and its history.**

"Hello again, Hermione," Harry said with a somewhat soft voice, considering his current location.

Hermione's eyes shot up and as she recognised the identity of the speaker, her mouth formed into a little o.

"Harry Potter!" she somehow yelled in a whispered voice, before turning a little red at her own outburst. "Hello, Harry."

Harry chuckled at that, earning a stern look from the library's overseer, Madam Pince.

"Enjoying the book?" Harry asked, waving to said book, currently in her grasp.

"Yes actually, it's very informative. Did you know that electronic devices don't work in Hogwarts? I had thought that might be the case since I never saw any electronics in my visit to Diagon Alley, but I had brought an electric watch with me to test anyway. Of course, it doesn't work at all now. I wonder when exactly it stopped working though. Maybe on the train? I didn't check it until after the feast, so I don't know." Harry stared with wide eyes as Hermione replied.

"I wish I could have read all of Hogwarts: A History before coming, but I simply didn't have time to finish it when I had to read through all of the other school books too. Have you read them yet?" she stopped talking and looked at Harry expectantly.

"Uh, no, not yet. I do intend to read them all cover to cover as soon as I can." Harry answered truthfully.

"Oh well, that's good. I know it's only been a day but it seems to me that the others in Gryffindor just aren't taking this seriously enough." Hermione looked thoughtful at this.

"You think so?" Harry replied.

"Honestly, magic is one of the most amazing things in the world. Imagine how many people, muggles I mean, would love to be able to use magic. Wouldn't they do everything they could do to become proficient at it as well? There's so much to learn, and I want to learn it all." Harry could see the earnest look in her eyes and felt sure he knew exactly why she was already level seven.

"You're amazing," Harry stated as a matter of fact.

Hermione seemed to have suddenly lost her ability to talk as she grew red in the face. It took Harry a moment to realise what he'd said and felt his own cheeks heating up.

"I mean," he continued, "I completely agree with you. I want to learn it all too. It would be stupid not to, right? There's so much potential in magic."

Hermione's eyes had grown a little wide. She wasn't used to someone actually talking to her, let alone someone agreeing with her so easily, and sharing her opinions on learning.

"Hermione, can we be friends? I would like to study with you sometime if that's OK." Harry asked, his face a little red still.

"Um, yes. I would love to be friends with you, Harry." Hermione nodded enthusiastically at this.

"Great!" Harry beamed at her, "Want to meet here at the same time tomorrow?"

"OK," she whispered back.

"OK." Harry repeated, "I have to go now though. See you tomorrow."

"See you," replied Hermione, this time with a shy smile on her face.

Harry waved as he exited the library, heading towards his common room. He felt excited that he'd made another friend, and especially that he had found someone who was so passionate about learning magic.


	4. Chapter 4

Dear Mum and Dad,

The Hogwarts castle is even more wonderful than I had imagined. I could actually feel the magic pass over me, almost like when you feel the difference in temperature when you step out of an airplane for the first time into a warmer country. I don't remember feeling that way when we visited Diagon Alley in London, so I wonder if it is because of how old and probably how saturated in magic the place is? I'll need to research into that.

Our theory that electronics aren't able to function in magical environments is correct. At least, that's the result of the limited test we performed. The watch stopped working, but I can't say when it stopped as the screen is completely blank. It might have even been in London at the platform 9 3/4. Do you remember if you had any electronics with you when we visited Diagon Alley? I wanted to know if they returned to normal after leaving a magical area. I suspect the magic acts as a sort of sustained EMP.

I was sorted into Gryffindor, named as the house of the determined and courageous, and the same house Headmaster Albus Dumbledore was sorted into. The hat, which is the magical artifact new students wear when they are being sorted, makes its decision through some kind of mind reading and had seriously contemplated putting me in Ravenclaw. I think I would have liked to be sorted into Ravenclaw. My first impressions of Gryffindor aren't very good, most of my housemates don't seem to be very serious about studying at all.

I actually made my first friend today, and he's in Ravenclaw. I first met him, Harry Potter is his name, on the train journey to Hogwarts, but today is when he asked me to be his friend. Harry even complimented me, he said I was amazing. He said he feels the same way about learning as I do, and I think he agrees with me that magic is something we need to learn as much as possible about. I'm meeting him tomorrow in the library and I hope we can discuss it further.

I miss you both already, but I know that being here is an opportunity I can't pass up. I hope you're both doing well. I'm looking forward to seeing you both at the winter break.

Love,

Hermione

"Give me food and I will live, give me water and I will die."

 **Quest created!**

 **Answer the Ravenclaw riddle correctly to gain access to your common room.**

 **Reward: 10 EXP**

 **Failure: None**

 **Accept [Y / N]**

 _Quests can even come from things like this? Will that mean I get a quest every time I have to enter the common room? How interesting. Maybe I won't need to wait to hand in the homework after all._

As he accepted the quest, Harry stood in front of the Ravenclaw entrance in thoughtful contemplation, considering what the answer could be.

 _Well, surely everything that lives needs food._ Harry thought.

 _So, that leaves the question of what dies if you give it water. If you give something too much water it will drown and die, but the riddle was simply 'give me water'._

"Ah," Harry grinned as he felt certain he knew the correct answer. "The answer is fire."

In response to his answer, the door swung open, admitting him to the Ravenclaw common room.

 **Quest completed.**

 **Reward: 10 EXP**

Checking his status briefly, Harry noted that he needed only ten more experience points to reach level two.

 _So close! I wonder if there's a quest in here somewhere?_

Harry wandered into the large circular room and spotted his first-year friends at a table with textbooks out, looking to be working on their homework.

"Hey guys," Harry called out as he neared them.

Looking up, Anthony and Terry nodded and smiled in greeting before resuming their work.

Michael, who had apparently just completed his own essay turned to face Harry.

"Hey, Harry. Did you find what you were looking for in the library?" he asked softly, respecting the others' need for relative quiet as they worked.

Harry was confused for a moment, not entirely understanding what he was referring to, but then as he took a seat beside Michael he remembered he had told his friends that he wanted to find a book for some personal research.

"Oh, no, not yet. I'll try again tomorrow."

Harry wanted to slap himself. He had actually forgotten all about looking for books relating to his ability.

"Ah well. What is it you're researching anyway? Maybe I can help you look," Michael offered.

"It's uh…" Harry thought quickly, "it's about my family."

Harry _had_ also wanted to investigate into his family, so he felt that a half-truth was an acceptable answer.

"Your family?" Michael asked. "What about them?"

Harry looked down at his hands in his lap, his fingers playing in unease, unsure how much he wanted to reveal about his home life.

Looking up, Harry met Michael's eyes apprehensively, "Well it's just that I don't really know much about my parents," he finally answered.

"Why not?" Michael looked a little confused.

Anthony and Terry looked up then, seemingly more interested in Harry's response than continuing their work.

"Well, they died when I was a baby," Harry replied slowly.

"Um, well I knew that Harry," Michael replied carefully, "I think most people know about that honestly.

"But shouldn't you have been told about them anyway?" Michael asked.

"Yeah, I should have, but I wasn't. Not the truth anyway," Harry answered and felt the low simmering anger he had been ignoring flare a little at the reminder of his relatives' lies.

"But then, what were you told if it wasn't the truth?" continued Michael.

"If it's alright, can we talk about something else?" Harry asked.

Glancing at the others, Michael shrugged and replied, "Sure Harry."

After a short pause, Michael asked, "So, did you finish your essay already?"

"Yeah, I did it in the library," Harry smiled at the easy question, "and I practiced writing with a quill and parchment. Do you guys know how to do that without making a mess?"

"I was taught by my family when I was younger," Anthony supplied.

"Me too, my mum taught me how" Terry added.

"Same here," Michael confirmed with a nod.

Harry sighed lightly and said, "Well I didn't even know about it until a little bit before coming. To be honest I didn't even know about magic properly until I got my Hogwarts letter and went to Diagon Alley."

Looking to his friends he saw their almost confused looks, "What is it?" Harry asked.

Michael leaned forward to Harry, keeping his voice low. "It's just, you know, well I don't think any of us want to make a big deal about it," he looked at the others who nodded in agreement, "but you're Harry Potter."

Harry frowned in response, and though he suspected he knew what that was supposed to mean, he asked anyway, "I don't get what you mean," Harry replied, "Yes I am Harry Potter, but so what?"

Michael looked a little uncomfortable now and glanced at the other two boys for help.

Anthony coughed slightly and the group turned to face him before he said, "I think what Michael is getting at Harry, is that we kind of expect you to know a lot about magic and the magical world already, since, well speaking frankly, you're a pretty big deal."

Harry rubbed the back of his head idly for a moment before replying, "I think I understand what you mean, but to me, I'm just Harry."

"You did say you hadn't heard anything about the books that are written about you, after all," Terry pointed out.

Harry nodded in agreement, "Right! To be honest, this is all new to me," Harry said before pausing for a moment, "I don't really want to talk about why though."

"OK Harry," Anthony said and smiled as he continued, "We won't ask, but it's normal for Ravenclaws to be curious."

The boys shared a grin at that. They all agreed with that statement.

"I'd still like to help you look for research material," offered Michael.

"Me too," chorused the other two boys.

"Thanks, guys, I really appreciate it. We can look tomorrow if that's alright?" Harry replied.

A round of agreement settled it. Harry decided to go with the flow for now and dedicate the library time tomorrow towards researching his into his parents' lives. Although he had already received an offer to discuss his mother's past with Professor Flitwick, he hadn't really thought of how he might learn more about his father. Perhaps they would find something useful in the library after all.

Harry glanced at his friends and once again felt grateful he was sorted into Ravenclaw. Reminded of what Anthony had said about Ravenclaws being curious, Harry looked towards the said boy and used the observe skill.

 **Hogwarts Student**

 **LV5 Anthony Goldstein**

Unlike Hermione, Anthony didn't appear to have a second line below his title of Hogwarts Student.

 _Does that mean he has no class? How does it work? I should have tried to figure out if there was anything more to Hermione's Bookworm tag._

Using the observe skill on his other friends revealed similar results. None of his friends displayed anything other than the Hogwarts Student title.

As Harry looked around the common room and used the observe skill on a few more students a new message appeared.

 **Through persistent use, your Observation skill has increased to level 2!**

 _That must have been due to all the times I used the observe skill on the way back here._ Harry realised.

"I'm just going to go to the dorm room, I'll be back soon," Harry said to the other boys.

Harry went to his dorm room to find some privacy. Lying down on his bed, he opened the status screen and pressed a finger to the observe skill.

 **[Observe](Active) LV2 EXP:0.0%**

 **A skill to find the target's information.**

 **You are able to view the following stats:**

 **Name, Level, Title, Class, Description**

 _Description? But I was already able to see descriptions of objects. Maybe it shows more detailed information than before? What if I use it on a person now?_

Harry took out his wand and used the observe skill.

 **Harry Potter's Wand**

 **Your wand is eleven inches long, made of holly, and possesses a phoenix feather core. This is described to be an unusual combination of wand core and wood. The feather was donated by Fawkes, Albus Dumbledore's Phoenix. It was revealed by the wand's maker, Garrick Ollivander, that Lord Voldemort's wand core also came from Fawkes, making the two wands "brothers".**

Harry was unsure if that had actually provided any further information as he hadn't observed it before.

Deciding to test it on his friends, Harry made his way back to the common room and stood in the entryway as he used the observe skill on Anthony again.

 **Class: Hogwarts Student**

 **Level: 5**

 **Name: Anthony Goldstein**

 **Description: Anthony is a first-year student at Hogwarts and was sorted into Ravenclaw. Anthony is well mannered and has excellent organisational skills as instructed by his parents throughout his childhood. Anthony aspires to achieve Outstanding scores in his exams.**

Reading through the information provided by the skill, Harry almost missed what he considered the most interesting piece. According to this, Anthony's _class_ was Hogwarts Student, not his title. Quickly comparing this to himself, Harry confirmed that his own class was still set as The Gamer whereas his _title_ said Hogwarts Student.

 _What's the difference? Does that mean Hermione has the class Hogwarts Student but the title Bookworm?_

Harry opened his status window and considered the title of Hogwarts Student. Looking around to make sure no one was watching him, he quickly tapped on the words and a new message appeared.

 **Title: Hogwarts Student**

 **100% increase in skill development speed up to the 3rd level. 50% increase in speed up to 5th level. 10% increase in speed up to 10th level.**

 _OK. If that's real then that's really nice._

 _Wait, does that mean 100% plus 50% plus 10% up to level three or just 100%? Also, does that mean skills max out at level ten or just that the bonus this title gives only extends so far?_

Harry scratched his neck and rubbed his shoulder in contemplation.

 _Does Hermione have bonuses because she has a title?_

 _Do classes give bonuses too? For that matter, is my title of Hogwarts Student any different to my friends' class of Hogwarts Student?_

Harry closed the window and tapped his finger on his class The Gamer.

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Cannot be changed. Allows the user to go through life as if it were a game.**

Harry nodded slowly.

 _Classes might not give you a bonus but maybe they allowed you to access certain skills?_

 _Did others having the Hogwarts Student class mean they were able to do something they wouldn't otherwise?_

Further investigation was definitely required.

Dismissing the windows, Harry looked to Anthony again and used the observe skill. After the same message from before appeared he stealthily tapped on the class Hogwarts Student.

 **Class: Hogwarts Student**

 **The user is a student of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. 100% increase in skill development speed up to the 3rd level. 50% increase in speed up to 5th level. 10% increase in speed up to 10th level.**

Somehow Harry hadn't expected that. This meant that his title of Hogwarts Student was basically a copy of the class.

 _Do I have the title because I can't have the class? Apparently, I'm not able to change my class from The Gamer but that probably means others can change their class._

Thinking back, Harry remembered that he had seen his Professors with Hogwarts Professor as what he had thought was their title. It was very likely that Hogwarts Professor was actually their class.

 _So I have to use titles in a way to replace classes? But then, what does it mean when Hermione has a title and a class? Isn't that unfair to me if her Bookworm title gives even more bonuses?_

Harry began making his way slowly to his friends.

 _Then again, if this is all true, and I can make myself smarter and stronger just by pushing a button then really I'm the one that's unfair._

"Hey guys," Harry greeted his friends as he returned to the table and pulled out a chair.

"Heya Harry," replied Terry with a smile.

Harry smiled back as he sat down and asked, "Finished yet?"

"Almost," replied Terry, who was scribbling at his parchment and had his tongue out to the side in concentration.

"Just finished," Anthony said as he nodded his head to his completed essay.

"Need any help?" Harry asked Terry.

"He won't let anyone help," said Michael as he mock sighed. "He said there's no point if he can't do it himself."

Terry confirmed this statement by nodding silently.

"Actually I think I agree," Harry said with a thoughtful look, "I'll do the same. Unless it's an emergency or I'm really stuck anyway."

"Me too," agreed Anthony.

Michael looked to the others with raised brows and said, "OK then, no helping each other with homework," he stroked his chin thoughtfully before continuing, "at least we can still help each other with wand work and in classes, right?"

Terry grunted his agreement while he continued his writing while Harry and Anthony nodded.

"And we need to do better than the girls," Michael said as he thumbed over his shoulder to where the Ravenclaw first year girls sat, working on their own essays it seemed.

"Agreed," came the chorused response.

Harry spent the rest of the evening looking through the textbooks for the following day's classes. Potions looked especially interesting and actually seemed somewhat like cooking, something Harry had previous experience with.

As Harry went to bed, saying goodnight to his dorm mates, he felt a bubble of happiness as he thought of what the future might hold.

Stood outside the potions classroom with the rest of the first year Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students, Harry thought back to the moment he had met eyes with Professor Snape after he was sorted.

There had been a message of some sort from the game, but Harry was struggling to remember the words exactly.

 _Something to do with being hostile?_

Harry worried that Snape wouldn't like him, but he couldn't think of a reason why that might be.

Just as he was about to respond to Terry, who had asked him if he had read ahead on the first year's potions material, the subject of his recent thoughts suddenly appeared.

The Hogwarts Professor, named Severus Snape as Harry saw above his head (level unknown), had all but slammed the heavy wooden dungeon door inwards as he entered the classroom.

Harry was impressed by how eye-catching the Professor's billowing cape was and, like the rest of the students, hadn't moved as he simply watched as the man swiftly made his way toward the teacher's desk at the opposite end of the room.

Turning to face the class, Severus Snape saw that instead of filing in and taking their seats they were huddled at the entrance, staring in at him through the doorway.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Enter the classroom and take a seat," commanded Professor Snape. "Quickly now, I don't have all day."

Seemingly startled into motion, the students did as they were told, with Harry taking a seat at the front beside Anthony.

As the last student sat, the dungeon door flew shut, causing the class to jump and even a few shocked squeaks.

 _This man has a talent for drama._ Harry realised and tried not to smile at the thought.

"There will be no foolish wand waving or incantations in this class." The professor began in barely more than a whisper, looking to each student as he spoke. "I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

Harry felt his curiosity burn. Those few words had lit a fire in him. Harry absolutely wanted to learn from this teacher who clearly had a passion for his subject.

"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood."

 **Quest accepted!**

 **Answer Professor Snape's question correctly.**

 **Reward: 10 EXP, increased relationship with Professor Snape.**

 **Failure: Decreased relationship with Professor Snape.**

Harry felt shocked at being singled out so suddenly as well as the sudden appearance of the quest notification. Had it automatically accepted? He tried to think back to what he had read so far in the potions textbook.

"Sorry sir, I don't think I've read that far yet," said Harry frowning.

 **Quest failed.**

 **Failure: Decreased relationship with Professor Snape.**

Snape's lips curled into a sneer.

"Tut, tut - fame clearly isn't everything."

Harry felt annoyed, not only had he missed out on the opportunity to level up, he was being belittled for something he had no control over. Glancing at Anthony he saw that the other boy also held a frown.

"Sorry sir," said Harry slowly, "but what do you mean? I didn't even know about magic until just before coming here."

Snape opened his mouth to reply but said nothing, instead he frowned then raised an eyebrow.

"Let's try again then Potter," Snape said after a pause. "Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar."

 **Quest accepted!**

 **Answer Professor Snape's question correctly.**

 **Reward: 10 EXP, increased relationship with Professor Snape.**

 **Failure: Decreased relationship with Professor Snape.**

Harry thought again with a frown and remembered seeing the word bezoar being mentioned when he had briefly read the antidote section of his textbook.

"I think…" Harry began, "from the stomach of a goat?"

 **Quest completed.**

 **Reward: 10 EXP, increased relationship with Professor Snape.**

A new message followed immediately.

 **Level up!**

A twitch of his eyebrows was all Snape displayed of his surprise that Harry had answered correctly.

As if dismissing Harry entirely, he turned to the rest of the class, "As Mr. Potter correctly stated, a bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons."

Harry took a moment to read the messages from the game he had until then been ignoring. Somehow he had answered that question correctly, which meant he had actually earned enough experience and leveled up.

Excitedly Harry opened his status window and saw that it showed he was now level two and had five points. Beside each of his stats was a plus icon, which Harry assumed was how he would be able to allocate the points.

 _Do I really want to spend it on strength after all? If it actually does change things then wouldn't that be a waste? Do wizards actually need to be strong? How would I be able to tell if it works otherwise though?_

Harry's attention was brought back to Professor Snape who had revealed instructions on the board at the front of the class for an apparently simple potion to cure boils.

Working with Anthony, Harry found that he did enjoy the actual potion making aspect of the class, but soon became tired of the ever-looming presence of their teacher. Professor Snape seemed to feel that the best way to teach was to criticise instead of instruct. More often than not he would take a glance and a sniff at a student's attempt and simply vanish it from the cauldron, telling them to try again without doing it wrong this time.

By some miracle, Harry and Anthony's potion was left alone. Professor Snape passed their desk often in his circuit around the class but seemed to deem it acceptable enough.

Just as Harry poured the completed potion into a vial a new message appeared in front of him.

 **A skill has been created through a special act! Through thoughtful and careful attention, the skill "Potioncraft" has been created.**

At first a bit surprised that he had a new skill specifically for one class, Harry realised that this was essentially the non-wand equivalent to his Spellcasting skill.

 _I wonder what bonuses this skill provides. I wish I didn't have to actually press on the window for it to show more information._

At the end of the lesson, Snape dismissed the class, "You may leave."

All except one. "Potter, a word."

Harry shared a look with Anthony and shrugged as his friend left the room with the rest of the students.

As Snape waited for the rest of the students to leave, he stood next to Harry's desk.

"Potter," Snape began, once they were alone. "What did you mean when you said you didn't know about magic before coming to Hogwarts?"

"Um, well I knew about it a little before I got the Hogwarts letter," Harry said, "but not as magic. Just that sometimes strange things happened around me."

"Strange things?" prompted Snape.

"Things that I know are magical now, but once I was running away from my cousin I ended up on the school roof."

"You were up to some mischief, no doubt." Snape accused with a sneer.

Harry's eyes widened slightly at the accusation, "No sir, actually I was running away from my cousin and his friends when they were playing their usual game of 'Harry Hunting'."

Snape raised an eyebrow at this.

Harry realised he had said more than he would normally as he had attempted to justify himself and shut his mouth tight.

"Are you trying to make me believe that you were bullied, Potter?" Snape stared into Harry's eyes.

Harry looked back and frowned. "It doesn't matter anymore because I'm here now Professor."

"What do you mean?" asked Snape.

"Hogwarts, and magic. Ever since I learned about it, about others being strange like me, I mean magical, things have gotten better."

Snape looked at Harry queerly, as if recognising something or someone he hadn't seen in a long time.

"You say you only just learned about Hogwarts and magic just recently. Did Headmaster Dumbledore not visit you and explain when you were younger?" Snape asked.

"No sir, but why would he?" Harry replied with a confused look.

Snape turned sharply around, his dark cloak billowing behind him as he walked to the teacher's desk.

"Your potion was adequate today, Potter, however, I expect you to produce better results in future," Snape said with his back still to Harry.

Harry managed a "yes Professor. I will."

"You may leave."

Harry wasted no time in exiting the classroom and catching up with his friends who had been waiting outside for him.

"What was that all about?" asked Terry as Harry approached.

"Uh, not really sure," Harry replied, "but I think he meant that I did well today."

"Weird. He definitely had it out for you at the start of class," said Michael.

"Yeah that was weird," agreed Anthony.

Harry agreed, something was very odd about Professor Snape. He had seemed very interested in Harry and had even been somewhat hostile in his questioning at the beginning of the class.

 _Was that message about hostility from Snape after all? But then, that message didn't reappear, even when he was glaring at me._

"And he kept vanishing our potion!" cried Terry.

"Yeah, and I swear we were following the instructions exactly," said Michael.

"He left ours alone," replied Anthony.

"He said ours was adequate," Harry said.

"Adequate? I wonder if that's his own way of saying excellent?" asked Michael with a grin.

The boys sniggered at that.

"I reckon he never praises anyone," said Terry.

Harry nodded, but still felt like he had somehow received a compliment from the professor and realised he actually looked forward to their next potions class.


	5. Chapter 5

Albus,

You had previously assured me, on several occasions, that Harry Potter was well looked after and was being raised with 'sufficient knowledge of our world to live happily'.

I had assumed that this of course meant that the boy was living a pampered life and would be insufferable, just like his father. This appears not to be the case.

After today's first Ravenclaw potions lesson, I asked Mr. Potter to remain behind so that I may investigate further into his claim that he was not aware of magic until just before he entered Hogwarts. I do not believe the boy lied to me, I would have known.

I am disturbed by what was said to me, but more so by what was left unsaid. I believe we need to discuss this further. At your earliest convenience.

Severus Snape

* * *

The Ravenclaw first years were making their way to the first Defence Against The Dark Arts class of the year.

There was some speculation as to what exactly the next class involved, with some theorising they'd be taught how to magically duel, or less graciously brawl, while others were suggesting that it was more likely they would simply learn about dark creatures and ideally about how not to be killed by them. There was a general agreement that it would be interesting no matter what was taught since all their classes so far had been.

Harry listened with half an ear to his friends' chatter while he was thinking through the problem of proving whether or not the game truly had the power to alter his mind and body.

Opening his status window, Harry reviewed his stats in an attempt to make a decision about where to allocate the level up points.

Other than strength, Harry wasn't able to think of a simple way to test whether or not allocating a point made a measurable difference.

With a strength score of only two, Harry reasoned that a change in strength would be easy to measure. He would find something heavy to attempt to lift, ideally something he could barely manage, then allocate a single point in strength to find out if it was noticeably less difficult.

 **Due to logical thinking, you have gained a point in intelligence!**

 _Does that mean my theory is correct, or just that thinking about experimenting, in general, is intelligent?_

As the group rounded the last corner before the corridor in which the classroom was located, Harry spotted a familiar bushy haired girl standing apart from the rest of the Gryffindors who all looked to be waiting for the classroom to be opened.

Slowly walking up to her, Harry smiled to himself as he realised she hadn't noticed his approach.

"Hi Hermione!" Harry said loudly, visibly startling the girl.

"Harry!" Hermione almost shouted in surprise, causing her to immediately flush red in embarrassment. "Please don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sorry Hermione," Harry said with an apologetic smile. "I thought you'd noticed me."

 **Persuasion successful!**

Harry blinked at the message in surprise.

"Oh. I didn't, but it's OK," Hermione said, her flush steadily fading as she regained control of herself.

 _It wasn't much of a lie, but still… would she have accepted what I said if I didn't have the persuasion skill? Would I have acted or spoken differently if I didn't have the skill?_

"Looks like we get to have at least one class together," Harry pointed out.

"Yes thankfully. So far we've been mainly stuck with the Slytherins," Hermione said and Harry noticed a small frown appear as she spoke, "though we had transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs at least. You'd think considering the house rivalry between the Gryffindors and the Slytherins we would be kept apart in classes."

"Is it really that bad?" Harry asked.

"Unfortunately yes. I thought it was just something silly, but it looks like the majorities on both sides think it actually matters, as if we are natural enemies," Hermione answered with a huff. "Put a Gryffindor and Slytherin in the same room and you'll be lucky if all they do is mistrust each other."

Harry raised his eyebrows at that, he definitely hadn't had that type of impression from the Slytherins he'd met so far.

"Maybe it's to help push the students to work harder. Sort of a competitive thing?" Harry suggested.

"I guess that's possible, there's definitely a competitive atmosphere," Hermione said with a thoughtful look.

Harry looked around at the other Gryffindors and spotted Ron. He was about to excuse himself from Hermione for a moment to go and speak to the redhead before a voice stopped him.

"Going to introduce us Harry?" came Michael's voice from behind.

Harry turned and saw his three roommates looking at him expectantly.

"Uh, sure!" Harry said as he looked between them, trying to remember how this was done.

Hermione brushed down her robes and stepped forward, offering her hand, "Hello, my name is Hermione Granger. I am a first year Gryffindor student. Who might you be?"

Michael raised his eyebrows at her somewhat pompous tone but took her hand nonetheless. "Hello Hermione Granger, my name is Michael Corner, and as you probably guessed I'm a first year Ravenclaw."

Terry stepped forward and smiled as he offered his hand to Hermione, "Terry Boot is my name, nice to meet you, Hermione."

"Anthony Goldstein. Good to meet you," said Anthony succinctly as he shook Hermione's hand.

"These are my dorm mates and friends," Harry said as he faced her.

Smiling, Harry turned to the boys and told them, "Hermione is also my friend."

"I'm happy to meet you all," said Hermione with a genuine smile.

 _That went well, I wonder if they'll want to study with Hermione later in the library too_.

"So, why weren't you standing with the other Gryffindors?" Terry asked.

Harry grimaced, and turned to Hermione with an apologetic look.

"You don't have to answer that Hermione," Harry said though he wouldn't deny he was also curious about her apparent pariah status.

"It's alright. For some reason, I don't seem to be getting along very well with the other Gryffindors."

"Uh, did you do something to them?" Michael asked.

"I don't think so, but I have always had a bit of a problem with making friends," Hermione replied.

"Why though? You seem fairly normal to me," said Terry.

Harry nodded his head in agreement at that assessment.

"In my last school, I had problems relating with others in my class. My parents told me once that it was because I am special, which I recently thought must have been because I am a witch. Though now with the same pattern repeating itself here, I'm not exactly sure what it is."

 _Maybe it's something to do with that bookworm title?_

Harry looked to Hermione and thought _observe._

 **Class: Hogwarts Student**

 **Title: Bookworm**

 **Level: 7**

 **Name: Hermione Jean Granger**

 **Description: Hermione is a first-year student at Hogwarts and was sorted into Gryffindor. Hermione is highly intelligent and an exceptional student but easily alienates herself from others her own age. Hermione wishes to learn as much about magic as possible.**

Harry didn't feel confident enough that he would be able to tap on the title without the others noticing.

 _I wonder if I could gain a skill that would give me a way to use the touching part of the game without others noticing?_

"Huh. Well, we can be your friends, right guys?" proposed Terry to Anthony and Michael.

"Yeah, sure," Michael agreed easily.

"I'd like to be friends with you too," Anthony said in his calm way.

"Oh, um sure! Good!" Hermione said, flushing pink slightly, "I mean, I would like it if we could be friends."

Harry grinned as she stumbled through the moment and was about to say he was glad that they were getting along so well when he was interrupted by the loud creaking sound of the classroom door opening.

A pungent stink of garlic was the first thing Harry recognised as the door to the classroom was opened from the inside. Harry wrinkled his nose and saw the purple turban wearing Quirinus Quirrell appear in the entryway.

Glancing at the words floating above the teacher's head, Harry saw that Professor Quirrell -like the other professors he had seen so far- had the Hogwarts Professor class with a level appearing as a question mark.

"Please m-m-make your way inside," stuttered the Professor, walking backward slightly to allow students to pass him into the classroom.

Sitting down at a desk next to Michael, Harry glanced behind him and saw that Hermione was alone.

 _Maybe I should sit with Hermione?_

"S-s-settle down, everyone," came the voice of Professor Quirrell from where he now stood at the front of the classroom, on a raised platform.

 _I'll sit next to her next time._ Harry thought as he turned back to pay attention to the professor.

"Please o-o-open, your t-t-textbooks to page four," Professor Quirrell instructed.

 _No theatrical introduction to the class this time I guess. Wonder what the stage is for?_

Harry pulled out 'The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection' out of his bag and set it down on his desk.

 **A hostile presence has been detected!**

Looking up sharply Harry saw that Professor Quirrell had his back turned to him and was picking up his own copy of the textbook.

 _Not the professor?_

Looking around at his classmates, Harry made eye contact with Ron.

 _It can't have been Ron that caused that message, surely?_

After a brief moment of the two simply looking at each other, the redheaded Gryffindor smiled, almost hesitantly.

Harry smiled back brightly at Ron, who now encouraged, smiled widely in return.

 _No... I don't think it was Ron._

Looking back to his book, Harry began to wonder about the mysterious message.

 _Maybe it wasn't a someone but actually a something? An animal? Maybe it was totally unrelated to the message that appeared before as well._

Harry began glancing around the classroom so that he might be able to spot something suspicious.

"Today w-we will be c-c-covering the first chapter of your b-b-books," said Quirrell.

"Oh man, is he going to be stuttering like that forever?" whispered Michael with a tired look.

Harry shrugged in response, but agreed that it was starting to become irritating to have to wait for the professor to get his words out when you could predict what he was trying to say.

"The b-book, The Dark Forces: A G-G-Guide to S-S-Self-Protection," the professor held out his own copy of the textbook.

Harry almost groaned.

 _Yes, we know the name of the book! If it's going to be like this at least speak about something useful._

After three more agonising pages of the introductory chapter had been read aloud by Quirrell, he spotted Hermione with her hand raised.

"Y-yes, Miss G-G-Granger?"

"Professor, maybe one of us can read from the book, and take turns?"

The class held its collective breath in hope.

"Not a b-b-bad idea," replied Quirrell with a stroke of his chin and nodded.

 _Yes! Good thinking Hermione!_

"Perhaps s-s-soon, Miss Granger. However, I still n-n-need to introduce the s-s-subject in general f-f-first," the professor replied with a congenial smile.

The class groaned audibly then.

 _Damn!_

 _Wait a second. He knew her name already? Actually didn't all the professors already know everyone's names? I wonder if that's magic like mine, or if they just memorise it?_

As Harry pondered this, Quirrell carried on, reading in his halting manner, slowly stumbling, and Harry could see that he wasn't the only one that was struggling to actually listen and pay attention.

 _It would be more productive to let us read it ourselves. Why do we have a teacher that isn't able to speak even one whole sentence without stuttering?_

 **Quest created!**

 **Discover the reason for the appointment of Quirinus Quirrell as professor for Defence Against the Dark Arts.**

 **Reward: 100 EXP**

 **Failure: None**

 **Accept [Y / N]**

Harry looked at the quest window and frowned.

 _I can create quests too, just by thinking about something… but I've been thinking about a lot of things and this is the first time it has happened. Maybe it's only just unlocked? I don't know… Maybe it only works when I'm wondering about something that's important. But then, what makes it important? And who is it important to?_

Harry's frown deepened.

 _Is my life actually a game, with a set storyline? I don't want to believe that. I can't accept that I don't actually have any say in what where my life is leading._

 _I need to discover more about this game. There's so much I don't understand._

With a thought, Harry accepted the quest.

 **Quest accepted!**

Deciding that he would actually absorb more of the book if he were to review it on his own, Harry instead opened his status window to assess his progress.

 **Name:** Harry James Potter  
 **Class:** The Gamer  
 **Title:** Hogwarts Student  
 **Level:** 2  
 **Experience** 0/500  
 **HP:** 100/100  
 **MP:** 2000/2000

 **STR:** 2  
 **VIT:** 5  
 **DEX:** 7  
 **INT:** 9  
 **WIS:** 10  
 **LUK:** 2

 **Points:** 5  
 **Money:** 29G, 2S, 4K

 **Skills:**

 **Persuasion** [LV 2]  
 **Spellcasting** [LV 1]  
 **Penmanship** [LV 2]  
 **Observe** [LV 2]  
 **Potioncraft** [LV 1]

500 experience was required to progress to level three now, a significant increase when compared to the requirement of only 100 experience to reach level two.

With the forthcoming test of strength, Harry considered where he might allocate the rest of his points, should the game actually be real.

 _LUK is really low. What does that even mean though? I guess I haven't really felt all that lucky in life until getting my Hogwarts Letter. But I suppose I was always going to get that anyway, so does that even count as luck?_

Glancing to the professor and to Michael beside him, Harry confirmed that no one was looking at him with suspicion.

 _That's right, looking forward and moving my eyes around is perfectly normal. It's when I need to push on things that things look odd._

Holding back a sigh, Harry continued to consider his status window.

 _Actually, it would be a good idea to use the first points to increase as many different stats as possible, so that I might be able to notice what it changes if anything._

 **Due to your thoughtfulness and insight, you have gained 1 Wisdom!**

Harry let a small smile appear on the edge of his mouth and confirmed that his wisdom stat had increased to 11 in front of his eyes.

 _I think that definitely took longer to increase than before, and I don't think I've been any less thoughtful. I'd say I've been thinking more deeply actually. Huh… is that because of the increase in wisdom stat?_

"A-And that's the b-b-basics of defence a-against the d-d-dark arts," the professor said, cutting into Harry's thoughts.

Harry figured this meant he would stop talking soon, so began paying attention again.

"For homework, p-p-please complete an e-essay summarising the p-p-points made in this ch-ch-chapter. Two f-f-feet maximum."

Harry looked at the other students and discovered that most seemed to be outright ignoring the professor.

"Class is d-d-dismissed."

Harry sat back and closed his book, glad that the worst class he had experienced so far was now over.

"That was something else. I was really struggling to follow," Michael said rubbing his hand over his eyes as if to wake himself up, "but it seemed like you pretty focused on what he was saying."

Harry guessed that was probably because of how he was looking at his status window, so to Michael it had looked like he was watching their teacher.

"I'm going to have to read the whole thing again on my own, to write that essay," Harry said.

As they made to leave the classroom, Harry caught up with Hermione just before the door.

"Hey Hermione," Harry greeted her.

"Hi Harry. That was interesting, wasn't it? I would have liked if we went further than just the introductory chapter, but I suppose it makes sense to have the first class like this," Hermione had that thoughtful look on her face again, almost like a frown.

"Didn't you have any problems following along with him talking that way though?" Harry asked.

"Honestly, yes it was rather a struggle. It's why I suggested he let us read instead," Hermione replied.

"Yeah, that was a great idea," Harry smiled at her, "It's a shame it didn't work."

Outside the classroom, Harry walked beside Hermione.

"I did wonder actually," Harry continued, "why exactly we would have a teacher that isn't, well, you know."

"Very good at communicating?" offered Hermione.

"Exactly."

"I wondered the same myself. It could be that Professor Quirrell is excellent at the practical side of the class," Hermione said.

Harry considered the quest he had received and thought there must be more to it than that.

"Hmm, maybe you're right. But even still, being able to talk normally is pretty much a basic requirement of teaching I'd say."

"Just give him a chance Harry, he might surprise us."

Harry wondered if he had been bothered by Quirrell more than the other students. He wondered if perhaps it was because of the hostile presence message that he felt negatively about the teacher.

As they reached the staircases, Harry and Hermione paused and turned to each other.

"See you later at the library?" asked Harry.

Hermione nodded, "I'll be there Harry."

"The guys will probably be coming too," Harry informed her, trying to gauge her reaction.

"OK," Hermione said, though Harry thought he saw something like apprehension in her eyes.

"We're going to look for research material on a special project," Harry said with a low voice.

Hermione looking very interested, then lowered her voice to match, "What are you going to research?"

"We," Harry emphasised the word so that it was obvious he was including Hermione in that particular 'we', "are going to be researching into my parents."

"What are we looking for exactly?" Hermione asked with a smile.

"Uh, well, I'll tell you more about it later, if that's alright," Harry said looking around slightly.

Hermione, who was rarely able to contain her curiosity when something grabbed her interest, sensed that Harry hadn't wanted to talk about it anymore out in the open so simply nodded.

"OK Harry, I'm looking forward to it."

Harry smiled then, "Great. See you later then."

"See you later," Hermione said.

Waving to each other in parting, Harry watched as Hermione descended the stairs until she was out of view. Turning back to check if his friends had caught up to him, Harry instead saw Ron Weasley approaching.

"Hiya Harry," Ron said as he came closer. There was that same air of hesitation that Harry had recognised when their eyes had met before.

"Hi Ron," Harry smiled at his first friend. "Gryffindor huh? Just like you said. It's a shame we're not in the same house though."

"Yeah. I was really surprised when you were sorted into Ravenclaw," Ron said with a somewhat wistful tone. "At least you're not in Slytherin though!"

"Would that have been bad?" asked Harry, eyebrows raised.

"Well, you're you, and you're great Harry, but they're Slytherins, so I don't really know. If I'm being honest, I think it would have been hard for us to stay friends."

 _I guess Hermione wasn't exaggerating about that house rivalry._

"Are we, well, you know, are we still friends now though?" Harry asked tentatively.

"Yeah!" Ron exclaimed before his ears reddened slightly, "Well, that is if you want to."

"Yeah, I do," Harry nodded and smiled reassuringly. "In fact, me and some friends are going to the library to meet up with Hermione later. Do you want to come too?"

Ron grimaced and looked like he was trying to hide some kind of revulsion. "The library? With Granger too?"

 _Granger? Not simply Hermione?_

"Yeah. Why? Is something wrong?" Harry asked, acutely aware of how Ron seemed to be dealing with what seemed to be a particularly distasteful thought.

"I guess you've only had one lesson with her so far Harry so you wouldn't really know. She's mental. A total know-it-all," Ron said, punctuating his points with waves of his arms.

Harry frowned deeply but Ron didn't seem to notice.

"Besides, why go to the library? There's loads more fun things to do, like chess or exploding snap."

"I like going to the library," Harry replied, trying not to sound too defensive.

"Why though? You always have to be quiet, and it's just books. You can't talk about Quidditch or play games in there."

Revealing his past and the reasons for why exactly the library was sacred ground did not seem appealing to Harry at that moment.

"I like to learn," Harry said.

"Well, yeah, but that's what the classes are for," said Ron.

Just then Harry saw his dorm mates approaching, and idly wondered why it had taken them so long.

"If we were to play those games, where would we play them? We don't have the same common room." Harry asked.

"Well, my brothers told me that there are a bunch of unused classrooms that are unlocked that you can use for that kind of things."

"So if we can find one of those rooms tomorrow, want to play something then?" Harry asked.

"Yeah OK!" Ron smiled, "I'll meet you at the Entrance Hall tomorrow after classes."

Harry glanced to the side where he saw his friends waiting for him.

 _They didn't ask to be introduced this time._

"Sure, sounds good. See you tomorrow then," Harry said with a smile.

"Yeah, see you, Harry," Ron replied glancing to Harry's dorm mates as he made his way down the stairs.

Harry watched Ron go and turned to his friends.

"Hey," said Terry.

"Hey guys, where've you been?" Harry asked.

"We were just talking with some of the Gryffindors. You're not the only one making friends outside the house you know," Michael said with a smirk.

"Oh?" asked Harry.

"Yeah," Anthony said, "come on, let's get going."

 _Weird. It's like they're keeping a secret or something._

Harry raised an eyebrow but shrugged accepting that he would probably find out sooner or later.

* * *

Dear Mr. Potter,

I would be delighted if you would agree to meet with me on Saturday morning at eleven AM, my office. I'm very much looking forward to talking to you about your mother.

Please send your response by owl so I know to expect you. Always a good reason to practice your quillwork!

Yours Sincerely,

Filius Flitwick

* * *

Harry had been a little surprised to see Hedwig, his Snowy Owl flying down from the high windows of the Great Hall with a letter in her talons.

 _That reminds me, I should try to meet up with Hagrid and say hello._

Reading the letter, Harry looked up to the head table and met eyes with his head of house. Sharing a smile, Harry nodded slightly.

"Who's that from?" asked Terry who was sat beside him.

"It's from Professor Flitwick," Harry said, and then lowered his voice slightly, "we are going to talk about my mother."

"Ah," said Terry who shared a knowing look with Harry and the other boys. "Don't forget to ask him about the books too, Harry."

"The books?" Harry wasn't sure what he was referring to.

"You know, the books using your name to make money."

"Oh right of course. Yeah, I will, thanks for reminding me."

"No problem. If you get loads of money when you sue them, give me some alright?" Terry said with a large grin.

Harry laughed, "Sure, I will."

"Me too," said Michael.

"Why you too?" asked Terry, "You didn't do anything."

"It's not like you're doing much either," Michael said, "and I want some money too if Harry is just giving it away."

Harry laughed again, causing the other boys to grin and laugh a little too.

"I'd like some money too Harry," came Anthony's voice at last.

Harry looked to Anthony who was sat across from him and, smiling, said, "Sure Anthony, if I get a load of money I'll give you some too."

 **Quest created!**

 **Successfully sue for royalties and give your friends some money, as promised.**

 **Reward: 10000 EXP, increased relationship with The Guys.**

 **Failure: None**

 **Accept [Y / N]**

 _Wow, that's a lot of EXP! Though, doesn't this seem to be completely random? It's not like we haven't spoken about a bunch of other things without getting a quest. Why is it that offering to give them money creates the quest? Also, the game is calling my friends The Guys now?_

Holding back a sigh, Harry reread the quest. Seeing no downside, he accepted the quest, but the question of how exactly a quest was created was now at the forefront of Harry's mind.

 **Quest accepted!**

"By the way, I'm going to meet Hermione in the library soon. Do you guys want to come too?" Harry asked them.

A round of affirmative responses confirmed that they would be accompanying him to the library.

"Alright, great." Harry smiled at his friends.

"We're going to be doing some research today right?" asked Michael.

"Yeah, about my parents like we spoke about," Harry replied.

"OK, cool," Michael said.

Making their way to the library, Harry was getting excited about the prospect of discovering more about his parents but he felt more importantly, at least in the immediate, he would be able to test out his theory about the level up points.

They easily spotted Hermione's bushy hair as they walked into the quiet library, she was sat alone on a table easily big enough to seat all of them.

"Hey Hermione," Harry said in a low voice, ensuring he wouldn't rouse the ire of Madam Pince, the library's keeper, for being too loud.

Turning around to see the boys, Hermione smiled and gestured for them to take a seat. "Hey," she said simply.

After the four boys had taken a seat, Hermione turned directly to Harry, "So, what exactly are we researching?"

Harry looked at Hermione, then to the other boys, then back to Hermione, "Well, the truth is, I don't really know much about my parents, like at all. I figured that there must be some kind of record about them in the school somewhere. The library seemed like a good enough place to start."

Hermione had raised her eyes at Harry's claim that he hadn't known much about his parents but didn't interrupt.

"Why don't you know about your parents Harry? Were you adopted but only found out recently or something like that?" Hermione asked.

"No, it's not like that. I always knew that my aunt and uncle were my aunt and uncle. They just never told me about my parents," Harry said with a shrug.

Hermione looked at Harry for a moment in silence, before she looked at the other boys who looked back at her shrugging themselves.

"OK then Harry. I suggest we look for student yearbooks, do you know how old they were when they died?"

Harry frowned in concentration.

"No, I don't know," he said finally.

"Oh, well, maybe we can find more about them through archived newspapers from when they were killed?"

Harry flinched at the easy way she had used that word, 'killed'. It was such a simple word, but it carried so much meaning. The word reminded Harry that his parents had been murdered. It made Harry wonder about why exactly his parents were murdered by the evil wizard Voldemort.

"Yeah, that could work," Harry replied after a short pause.

"Your father was a pureblood as well Harry, so there is probably something written in a book about pureblood families about the Potters," said Anthony.

"How do you know Harry's dad was a pureblood Anthony?" asked Hermione.

"The Potters have always been pureblood until Harry was born," Anthony replied, before turning to Harry. "Your mother being muggle born means the Potters are no longer pureblood."

"OK. But how do you even know that?" Harry asked.

"My parents told me," Anthony said.

Harry looked between Terry and Michael who both shrugged.

"Some children are taught a lot about the history of purebloods," Michael said, "especially those that are pureblood themselves. It's probably so they know who has the same social standing as them."

"Social standing?" Hermione asked, "Do you mean there's a difference because of something to do with your blood? What does pureblood mean?"

Harry was mildly surprised that Hermione hadn't already come across that particular term, but realised that it had only been a little while since she'd been aware of the magical world as well, just like him.

Turning to Hermione again, Harry said "It's not something we care about here, but apparently some, or even maybe lots, of older magical people really care about whether or not you have a magical family history."

Hermione looked thoughtful at that and asked "How much does it matter? Does it actually make a difference with your magic or something like that?"

"Purebloods tend to get the jobs in the government ahead of half-bloods and muggleborns my dad said. And well, I don't think anyone has proven one way or the other that having pure blood makes any difference in magical power or ability," Anthony said, "and that's how they like it."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, quieter now, almost like she didn't want to hear the answer.

"Well, I guess that if they can just believe that blood purity matters without any proof, and if everyone else goes along with it, it fits with how they want things to be, so they don't need to prove it," Anthony said.

"But that's wrong!" Hermione said hitting her hands palms down on the table.

Harry shot a look to Madam Pince but it seemed that she hadn't noticed Hermione's outburst.

"Yeah, it's wrong," Michael said leaning back in his chair, "but that's how things are."

Hermione sat in silence for a moment looking towards the tabletop, brows tight in concentration and it was clear she was thinking hard. Harry glanced at the others and noticed they all shared the same look of concern.

"I'll change it," she whispered finally.

"Change what?" Harry asked.

"I'll change the way they think," Hermione said. "I'll prove that blood purity doesn't make any difference."

 _But… what if it does make a difference?_

"What if it does make a difference?" Harry asked, unable to stop himself, unable to stop the note of uncertainty that had crept into his voice.

Hermione looked at him then, and Harry wasn't sure how exactly he would describe that look if someone had asked him to. There was so much determination, but also defiance and hope and a little fear.

"If anything, I'll show them all that muggleborns are even better," Hermione said and Harry believed her.

"I'm looking forward to it," Michael said smiling.

Hermione saw his smile and grinned in response.

"So uh, weren't we going to look for some books?" Terry asked looking to each of them.

"Yeah," said Harry, "you're right Terry."

"Right!" Hermione said standing up, "I'll go ask Madam Pince about newspaper articles about when you were attacked, Harry."

"I think there might be some information in the books written about purebloods." Anthony said and made his way into the stacks.

"Any other ideas?" Terry asked Harry and Michael.

"Hmm, maybe, I'll go check and let you know," Michael said.

"I'm not sure, I'll just see if there's anything that stands out I guess," said Harry with a shrug.

 _And I'll test my strength, finally._

"Cool," said Terry, "I'll just help out Hermione or Anthony then I suppose."

Harry nodded and made his way into the stacks. Eyeing a particularly heavy tome, Harry grunted as he picked it up off the bottom shelf. Adding another large tome Harry attempted to pick both books up at once and strained, barely managing to move them a few inches from the floor before he gave up.

 _Perfect. That was exactly what I was hoping for._

Looking back to the entrance of the row of stacks to ensure that he wasn't being watched, Harry commanded his status window to open and tapped the small plus button next to his STR score. It now read STR 3.

 _OK. Here we go._

Pausing a moment, Harry looked at the books again and took a deep breath before squatting down and lifting them.

It was... easy. OK, well not exactly easy, but it was noticeably less difficult. With a grunt, Harry lifted the two heavy books so that he held them in his arms and stood up fully. There had been no way he could have done that just moments before.

 _Oh wow. It worked. I almost can't believe it actually worked. What are the limits? Could I, after leveling up a tonne, put all my level up points into my strength and become like superman?_

Putting the books back into their places, Harry leaned back against the shelves and thought hard about what he should do.

 _Four more points to spend. Leveling up wasn't that hard, but already I need 500 more experience to get to level three, I'm sure it will take even more to get to level four._

Harry had unknowingly begun tapping his fingers against the shelves behind him in his introspection.

 _I could gain points by doing something else, like studying or exercising. Shouldn't I save the points for when it becomes harder to gain them through practicing? What about the stats that I don't know about. How would I increase my LUK stat without points anyway?_

"Hey Harry, found anything?" came the voice of Terry.

Taking his weight off the shelves, Harry turned to Terry and shook his head, "No, nothing yet. I've still got a lot of books to check though."

"OK, well I think maybe Hermione has found something."

"Great!" said Harry smiling, "let's see what it is."


	6. Chapter 6

Harry listened attentively while Hermione read aloud the front page Daily Prophet article that had been printed the morning after his parents were murdered. Although the article had focused primarily on the miraculous downfall of Voldemort, Harry learned that both of his parents had been twenty-one years old at the time of their deaths.

"Evidence gathered by the Aurors suggests the Potters did not go down without a fight. According to our sources, the room in which James Potter was found looked nothing like the cozy family room it had once been. Extensive spell damage was identified on all sides of the room, indicating a fierce and destructive duel took place. Upstairs, in the remains of young Harry's nursery, our sources say it was even worse, and very likely the place in which He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named met his end. Everyone here at the Daily Prophet wishes to extend our deepest gratitude to these brave heroes." Hermione stopped reading and looked to Harry.

Looking around at his friends, Harry saw their concern for him, as well as their pity. Pity being so blatantly directed towards him was not something Harry was accustomed to. He would have found it difficult to point out a single instance of it in his past. Averting his eyes, Harry looked down at the wand he was holding and thought about his parents.

He felt happy that they were remembered as heroes, and not as drunks that died in a car crash like his relatives had led him to believe. It was true that Hagrid had told Harry that his parents were heroes, and he wanted to believe what he was told, but seeing it written in a newspaper helped remove his lingering doubts. He wondered why his relatives had lied to him, about why they were so hateful to him in general, but supposed it was just one more entry in a long list of abuses he had lived with his whole life. That Harry had had to live with his magic-hating relatives, to sleep in the cupboard under the stairs, to constantly be berated and belittled by them was truly Voldemort's fault. Voldemort took Harry's parents from him.

He was grateful that his parents had sacrificed themselves to allow him to survive but he was sad that they died, and grieved that he would never really know them. He mourned for the life he would never know, where he would have had loving parents to take care of him and teach him about magic.

He wanted to know why it was that his parents weren't able to defeat Voldemort themselves yet somehow he was.

 _How is it possible that I, as a baby, was able to defeat Voldemort anyway? There's no way I could've been stronger than my parents or any other witch or wizard that tried to fight him._

Looking back up to his friends, Harry saw that they were all waiting for him to speak.

"I'm glad they're known as heroes," Harry said with a weak smile. "I guess we can find the year books now."

"Yeah," Hermione said and stood, "I'll go and find it. Be right back."

After watching Hermione leave the table, Michael turned back to Harry.

"You OK?"

"Yeah," Harry said with a shrug, "I just wonder why Voldemort..." Harry paused as his friends flinched, "why _he_ came after me. Was it just random? I mean, I guess I don't really know what was going on back then, or why."

The boys sat in thoughtful silence for a short while before Anthony spoke.

"I never really thought about it before, but I was told that You-Know-Who had a lot of followers, called Death Eaters, who did most of his dirty work for him. Apparently, he would only ever get personally involved when it was either a really powerful wizard they were up against or if he held a particular grudge."

"Were my parents really powerful? Or did he have a grudge?"

"I don't know Harry, sorry."

Looking at the other two boys, they both shrugged in response.

Considering what he'd just learned, and figuring he had no reason to doubt Anthony, Harry began to wonder about who he might be able to ask for more information.

 _I guess I have another question for Professor Flitwick._

Hermione returned just a few moments later with a Hogwarts student yearbook for the year 1978. Laying the book down gently, she pointed at the picture on the opened page. "Look."

The subjects of the photograph were two students sat side by side, both in their late teens. On the left sat a boy, nearly a man but not just yet. He had messy dark hair, round glasses, and a handsome smile. On the right of him was a very pretty girl, with long red hair and a smile radiating happiness. Occasionally they would face each other and smile while they fidgeted with their entwined hands.

"Your parents were head girl and head boy, Harry!" Hermione whispered.

Harry peered at the picture in wonder.

"Harry?" Hermione said gently after a little while.

"Huh?" Harry said, looking to Hermione. "Oh. Well, it's just. I've never..."

Hermione remained silent but her eyes widened a little.

"You've never what, Harry?" said Terry.

Harry looked to Terry, then back to the picture. His parents looked so young and happy, they were practically glowing with it, and he felt a great sense of loss knowing he'd never be able to meet them.

"I've never seen them before," Harry whispered, eliciting a short gasp from Hermione. As he looked around at his friends he saw that they all seemed a little startled, with Hermione looking particularly upset. "Well, since I was a baby I mean."

"You haven't even got a picture of them?" asked Michael.

Harry shook his head.

"Wow, that's really awful..." Michael said, shaking his head. "Sorry Harry."

Harry smiled at Michael with bemusement. "What for? You didn't do anything."

Michael shrugged. "It just sucks."

"Yeah," said Harry, eyes returning to the picture of his young parents. "Do you think there's a way I can get a copy of this picture?"

"Maybe Madam Pince could help," said Hermione.

 **Quest created!**

 **Have Madam Pince create a copy of your parents' yearbook photo.**

 **Reward: 50 EXP, School picture of your parents, increased relationship with Madam Pince.**

 **Failure: Decreased relationship with Madam Pince**

 **Accept [Y / N]**

With his eyes still facing the picture of his parents, Harry managed not to flinch as the blue box appeared. After reading the quest and deciding that the potential rewards far outweighed the potential losses, he accepted it with a thought and nodded.

"OK," Harry said, looking up at Hermione, "I will go ask her now."

Seeing the concerned faces of his friends as he stood, Harry gave them a small smile, "I'll be right back."

With the yearbook in hand, Harry made his way to Madam Pince near the entrance of the library. Another student was talking with her as Harry arrived, so he used the time waiting for his turn to look at Madam Pince.

 **Hogwarts Librarian**

 **LV? Irma Pince**

Wondering exactly what level his professors, and now this librarian, must be for them to appear as a question mark, Harry thought _observe_.

 **Class: Hogwarts Librarian**

 **Level: ?**

 **Name: Irma Pince**

 **Description: Irma Pince is the Hogwarts school librarian and takes pride in maintaining a thoroughly well-organised library. Known as Madam Pince to the students, many dislike her and claim she is unhelpful and too strict. Irma's first priority is the condition of the books under her care.**

Harry reread the description and noticed that she didn't have a title, just as Anthony hadn't.

 _Now that I think about it, other than Hermione, I don't remember seeing any other student without 'Hogwarts Student' over their name._

Resolving to be more attentive in general, Harry mentally closed the blue box that displayed the observed information and looked to the librarian's desk, belatedly noticing that the student ahead of him had already left. Madam Pince was looking at him with crossed arms and a single raised eyebrow.

 _Ugh, great start Harry, you've annoyed her already._

Harry put the yearbook down in front of her, taking care to be gentle with it, "Um, hello Madam Pince, my name is Harry, Harry Potter."

Lowering her eyebrow, Madam Pince glanced at the yearbook placed in front of her before looking back at Harry. "Yes, hello to you too Mr. Potter. Now, what do you want?"

"Ah, well, the thing is, I wondered if perhaps you would make a copy of a picture in this yearbook for me?" Harry tried not to fidget under her scrutiny.

"Hmph, at least you have the brains to come to me instead of trying to do it yourself," she said, moving her hands to rest gently on the book.

"Yes, of course," Harry replied quickly, "I would hate for any of the books to be damaged."

She peered at him for a moment as if judging the sincerity of his words.

"If only the rest of the students thought the same way," Madam Pince said with a sigh, picking up the yearbook. "Now, which picture did you want a copy of?"

"It's the picture of the head girl and head boy sitting together please."

Madam Prince turned the pages slowly, making sure to be gentle so as not to cause any damage, until she found the page with the photograph. Harry saw a small flash of recognition in her eyes before she looked up at him, this time, for the first time, not with a look of annoyance, but with a look of sympathetic understanding.

Unsure what to say and feeling a little embarrassed by the sudden change in her demeanor, Harry felt his cheeks redden but silently held her gaze.

"I see," was all that she said before she took out her wand, swishing it in an elaborate sequence and tapping the photo. In an instant there was a copy of the photograph, in exactly the same dimensions, laying atop the original.

Harry stared in awe at Madam Pince's spellwork.

 _That was incredible. Her wand moved so quickly and she didn't even say any spell words._

"Here you are Mr. Potter," she said, holding the duplicate out towards him, "I shall return the book, if you have no further need of it."

Taking the photograph, Harry couldn't stop the broad smile from appearing on his face. "Thank you. I don't need the book anymore."

 **Quest completed.**

 **Reward: 50 EXP, School picture of your parents, increased relationship with Madam Pince.**

Madam Pince nodded and let slip a small smile, "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Harry hesitated for a moment, and Madam Pince raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Well, I was wondering, how is it that you were able to cast that spell without saying any words?"

"Hmm, yes I do not expect you will have come across it yet. It's a skill called nonverbal spellcasting and you will be taught about it in your sixth year. I shouldn't think too much on it until then if I were you."

 **Quest created!**

 **Learn to cast any spell nonverbally.**

 **Reward: 5000 EXP.**

 **Failure: None**

 **Accept [Y / N]**

"Now, was there anything else?"

 _I'll definitely be learning about it before sixth year. That much experience is too much to pass up._

Quickly accepting the reward-heavy quest, Harry shared another smile with the librarian.

"Nothing else. Thank you again Madam Pince. I really appreciate it," Harry said, holding the picture to his chest and taking a step backwards. "Goodbye."

"Farewell, Mr. Potter."

Walking towards the table where his friends now had their books out and were studying, Harry quickly reviewed his encounter with Madam Pince.

 _Using the information from the observe skill really helped me to convince her that I had the book's best interest in mind, but it seemed that what really convinced her to help was that it was a picture of my parents. I didn't seem to use the persuasion skill at all, so does that mean I didn't need to resort to using it? Everything I said was true, so is it only used when I'm telling a lie? I don't think that matches exactly with how I've been using it so far... At least I know that I can still speak with people without the skill automatically interfering. I wonder if I can use it intentionally?_

Showing his friends the copy of the photograph, he smiled as they congratulated him on his, as they called it, 'successful mission'.

The group passed some time talking about their classes so far and their hopes for the remaining introductory lessons in each subject. Harry contributed to the discussion when asked about his opinion, but now that he had his treasured picture he couldn't stop his thoughts turning back to the remaining stat points to be allocated from his level up.

Harry waited for a lull in the conversation before he spoke. "Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a videogame character?"

Hermione raised her eyebrows at Harry's complete change of topic, but before she could comment, Terry spoke up.

"Still thinking about that even when we have all this awesome magic?"

Grinning, Harry said, "Well, I was just thinking… being magical is like being a video game character in some ways, right?"

"Well, we'll learn how to do things that muggles could only dream of," Michael said.

"Right, so in a way it's like being a videogame character."

"That depends on the videogame," Michael said and smirked.

"True. But you know, some videogame characters can choose to get better at things really quickly, right? Like if they, uh, level up. Wouldn't it be great if we could do that too?"

"Hah, yeah if only," said Terry.

"Yeah, if only…" Harry said facing towards Terry, "What would you choose to be better at, if you could?"

"You mean stuff like skills and abilities?"

"Yeah, say you were able to choose to become stronger or smarter or something like that."

"Smarter, definitely," Hermione said eagerly.

"Being smarter would help a lot," said Michael, "so long as it would help us learn faster."

"Yeah, but what about being able to use your wand really quickly?" Terry said as he twirled his wand around his fingers and wiggled his eyebrows before slipping and launching it away.

Harry couldn't stop himself from laughing at his friend's antics.

"Wow Terry!" Michael laughed loudly, "I didn't know you could make your wand disappear."

"An impressive spell Terry," Hermione giggled, "could you please teach it to me?"

"Please Hermione, not you too," came Terry's muffled voice from under the table.

"Sorry," Hermione smiled widely.

"You make a good point though Terry. I can see how being quick with your wand could be very useful… as long as you can keep hold of it," said Michael smirking.

Terry groaned.

"True," said Anthony with a lingering grin, "but you would still need to know the actual spells to cast, so being smarter would probably be a greater advantage."

"I'm not so sure," said Michael. "If you are in a duel and your opponent is faster, even if you know more spells you'll still probably lose."

"That really depends on which spells," said Anthony.

"True."

"So really, being both smart and fast would be best," Harry said, "But, what about being super strong?"

"Magic covers for a lot of the need for being strong," Michael said.

"As long as you know the spells," Anthony said.

"Muggles have great big machines that do the same thing too," said Terry, "Like when they construct new buildings."

"Rather than being able to carry a single heavy object, wouldn't it be really useful to be able to carry around lots of smaller of things, like Mary Poppins and her magic bag," Hermione said.

"Oh yeah, like an inventory," Terry said.

 _Inventory?_

At that thought, an empty blue box appeared in Harry's vision. Distracted, he nearly missed Anthony's response.

"Well, I'm not sure who Mary Poppins is, but we do have things like that already. Your school trunk should already have that capability. As another example, my mother has a money pouch that looks quite small from the outside, but can contain many piles of coins."

"I don't think my trunk can do that, it seems like a perfectly ordinary wooden trunk to me." Hermione frowned.

"That's odd Hermione, all Hogwarts school trunks should be charmed with the extension charm," Michael said.

Hermione frowned, looking down at the tabletop and biting her lip.

"Do you think that perhaps it's because I'm a muggle-born?"

Glancing at each other, the guys shrugged.

"It could just simply not be working properly," said Anthony. "I would discuss it with my head of house if I were you."

"OK, I will do that, thanks," Hermione said with a smile. "My school trunk aside, I was thinking more along the lines of my book bag. It would be convenient to not have to carry all my books around like I am now. They do get to be quite heavy."

"Unfortunately, the charm is very advanced magic so it would be very difficult to learn," Anthony said with a shrug, "Then, even if were skilled enough to cast it, I heard knowledge of the spell itself is heavily controlled by the Ministry, so I doubt you'd find out how to cast it in the first place.

"You could always spell them lighter if you aren't able to purchase an extended container."

"Spell them lighter? What does that mean?" Hermione said.

"I mean that you, or someone else, could cast a charm on your books to reduce their weight."

"What's the spell to do that? Do you do that to your books?" Hermione leaned forward eagerly.

"Sorry Hermione, I don't know the spell. It will be in a book here somewhere, though I don't know which. It would be rather useful to cast it on my books too. It never really occurred to me to do it before now."

"Right," Hermione stood, "I'm going to ask Madam Pince right away."

Her chair scraped on the stone floor as she quickly made her way to the librarian's desk.

"Why wasn't she sorted into Ravenclaw anyway?" Michael asked.

"I am curious too. She seems to have the typical thirst for knowledge our house is famed for," said Anthony.

"She must be very courageous then," said Terry. "Wasn't that one of the big Gryffindor traits?"

"Courage, bravery, nobility," Michael said, counting on his fingers as he went.

The guys hummed into thoughtful silence and Harry said nothing but wondered about the reasoning too.

 _Surely the Hat must have had a good reason to have sorted her into Gryffindor. She seemed to have a tremendous will to act inside her too, especially when we were talking about the blood status system._

Taking the break in conversation to finally inspect the new blank window in front of him, Harry thought back to the single word he had thought when it had appeared.

 _Inventory?_

The thought caused the box to instantly disappear.

 _Inventory._

Once again, the box appeared. Leaning over and looking down towards his feet, the box moved with his vision, just as all the other windows had done.

 _An inventory is used to store things, right? Is that really what this is?_

Taking the duplicate photograph of his parents, Harry held it in his hands and considered how this might work.

 _Uh... Put picture in inventory._

Nothing happened.

 _Store picture._

The picture remained in his hand.

 _Maybe I just try to put it in?_

Glancing up at his friends, Harry found that they had each begun to busy themselves with reading or schoolwork.

 _Heh, Ravenclaws._

Moving his eyes back to his feet, so that the box was effectively hidden from his friends by the table, Harry pushed the picture into the box. At first there was a slight resistance as he moved the picture into the box, but as it reached just about half way in, the picture was pulled from his fingers and vanished.

As soon as his hand was empty, Harry saw a small copy of his picture appear in the top left of the inventory box.

 _OK… now how do I take it out?_

Figuring the process would likely be the same but in reverse, Harry moved his empty hand into the box, and felt no resistance this time as he took hold of the picture and pulled it out. He looked between the picture in his hand and the inventory in wonderment. He repeated the process of storing and retrieving the picture five more times, revelling in it, before he left it in the inventory.

"Harry, you already have an extended container?" said Anthony, startling Harry and making him jump in his seat.

With his heart hammering, Harry tried to resist the guilty and embarrassed feeling of being caught doing something private. "Ah, yeah, that's right."

"Oh, cool! Can I see?" said Terry as he and Michael leaned over the table to see.

 _Quick Harry, think fast!_

"Sorry, but uh, it's invisible," Harry said.

 **Persuasion successful!**

"Oh, I see," said Terry. "Well, no I don't actually. But that's so cool. Where'd you get it?"

"Where'd he get what?" asked Hermione as she sat down with a thick tome.

"Harry already has an extended container, and it's invisible," said Anthony.

"Wow! Why didn't you mention it earlier Harry? It's invisible too? Could I please see you use it?"

"Uh, sure, one moment."

 _Inventory!_

The box appeared and Harry quickly retrieved the picture, this time in front of his friends.

"Wow!"

Apart from Hermione's vocal reaction, Harry noticed that the guys were staring silently with their eyes wide.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Harry said as he returned the picture to the inventory.

"Harry, that's amazing," Anthony said waving his hand toward the air in front of Harry. "That must have cost a fortune."

"Er, why do you say that?" Harry said, noticing Anthony's hand passing through the inventory harmlessly.

"Well, not only is it invisible -which I suspect is quite rare considering the likely difficulty in making an object both expanded and invisible- you also seem to be able to control where the container is. I mean, rather than say it being tied to your waist, it looked like you pulled the picture out of the air in front of you." Anthony said and shook his head in wonder.

"Oh man, I really want one of those!" Terry said, eyes shining.

"Harry, where'd you get it?" Michael asked, "Maybe we can get one too."

Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, Harry looked around at each of his friends.

 _Why not the truth? Or at least, something like the truth._

"Well… to be honest, I don't know exactly who gave me this. I think it must be related to my parents somehow." Harry said.

"Is that why we're looking into them?" said Hermione.

"It's part of it I guess, but I really do want to know more about them in general."

"I don't understand. How can you not know who gave you it?" said Terry.

"Yeah, and when did you get it?" said Michael.

"I got it just after the sorting."

"Right, but how did you get it? Didn't someone hand it to you?" said Michael.

"Err, no, I suppose it was just given to me magically. There were no notes about who gave me it or anything."

The group sat in silence for a minute with Harry looking at each of his friends, hoping they wouldn't ask him any further questions.

"Can I touch it?" said Hermione

 _I doubt it, considering what happened earlier with Anthony…_

"You can try, but I'm pretty sure it only works for me."

"OK. Where is it?"

Moving his hand to rest on the edge of the box, Harry nodded, "Just there."

Hermione moved her hand near to his and waved it around, "I don't feel it."

"It's right there. I think that maybe part of its magic is that only I can interact with it too."

Anthony let out a low impressed whistle. "Not only is it invisible and follows your directions, it's only tangible for you. That's one seriously impressive piece of magic Harry. I'm a little jealous, honestly."

"I totally want one too," Terry said.

"Definitely. That would be crazy useful. You're so lucky Harry," said Michael.

 _Hah, not according to the status screen, I'm not. What does that even affect anyway?_

"It makes learning this spell seem a little less impressive now," Hermione said with a sigh, motioning to the book sat in front of her.

"Oh yeah, so do you know which spell it is?" said Harry.

"Well Madam Pince wasn't entirely as helpful as I would have liked," Hermione said, frowning, "but even though she wouldn't tell me which spell it was exactly, she did direct me to this book. She said it would be good for me to learn to find the information myself."

 _The observed information was pretty accurate then, though maybe she's got a point. Madam Pince might be nicer than she lets on._

"So this book has that spell in it somewhere. It's quite large though." said Harry.

"Yes. I wonder if there's a spell that can help search through books," Hermione said looking to Anthony questioningly.

"I'm not sure, though it sounds like a very useful spell, so I would hope it does exist," Anthony said.

"So you'll need to search for the search spell," Terry chuckled.

"Better to only have to do it once," Michael said. "I'll go ask Madam Pince if she knows the spell."

"I'll help," Harry said, standing too.

"Good idea, Harry. You can use that boy-who-lived charm of yours," Michael grinned, patting Harry on the shoulder as they walked to Madam Pince.

 **Quest created!**

 **Help Michael convince Madam Pince to teach you both the book searching spell.**

 **Reward: Spellcasting EXP, increased relationship with Madam Pince.**

 **Failure: Decreased relationship with Madam Pince**

 **Accept [Y / N]**

 _EXP specifically for a skill instead of my character level this time?_

Harry accepted the quest and they shortly arrived in front of the librarian.

"Hello again, Madam Pince," Harry said with what hoped was a charming smile.

"Hello Madam Pince," Michael said.

Harry could have sworn for a moment that the librarian's eyes looked upon him softly but all he could see was that she appeared just as annoyed as the first time he had spoken to her.

"Hello again, Mr. Potter. Hello Mr. Corner," she replied, eyeing them both critically, "What can I help you with this time?"

Looking to each other, Harry spoke first, "We were wondering if you might know of a spell that would help search through a book."

"Ah I see, you're working with Miss Granger, yes?"

The boys nodded.

"Well, I simply don't have the time to educate all of you individually. This isn't a classroom after all."

"But, you do know the spell don't you?" Michael said.

"Naturally."

"Well, er, maybe if you show just us, we can show the others so they won't bother you about it?" said Harry.

The librarian stared at him in silence for a few moments. "You would teach all of those in your school year this spell?"

Harry look to Michael who shrugged silently and nodded.

"I guess so."

"I can't accept such a half hearted agreement, Mr. Potter. Will you ensure everyone in your school year learns this spell, within this month?"

 **Quest created!**

 **Madam Pince wants you to ensure all students in your school year learn the book searching spell. Teach them!**

 **Time Limit: Before October.**

 **Reward: Increased relationship with Madam Pince.**

 **Failure: Drastically decreased relationship with Madam Pince**

 **Accept [Verbal Response Required]**

 _A time limit, and the failure being a 'drastically decreased' relationship seems pretty bad…_

Looking back to Madam Pince, he saw that she was waiting for his answer.

"I'll do it."

 **Quest accepted!**

Searching his eyes, Madam Pince gave a slight nod of her head, "Very good."

 **Quest completed.**

 **Reward: Spellcasting EXP, increased relationship with Madam Pince.**

 **Spellcasting skill has increased to level 2!**

"Now then, the spell you asked to learn is named Invenius Locus, and the wand movement is quite simple. You drag the tip of your wand in a straight line from the top to the bottom of the document you want to search."

Taking a book from under the desk, Madam Pince demonstrated the spell. A beautiful golden light left her wand before spoke the term she wanted to search for.

"If there is more than one match then simply flick your wand to the left of right like you're turning the page, to go forwards or backwards to the next or previous matches in the document," Madam Pince said as she flicked her wand, demonstrating the spell.

 _How can it know exactly what's in a book just from saying a couple of words?_

"Now it's your turn, Mr. Potter."

Turning the book around to face him, Harry closed it carefully, and cleared his throat.

"The words were, um, infernius losus?" Harry asked.

"Invenius locus."

"Invenius locus?"

"Yes."

"Invenius locus… invenius locus… OK."

Dragging his wand tip vertical down the cover on the book, Harry loudly intoned the words, "Invenius locus!"

The same golden light spread from his wand into the book, just as it had done for Madam Pince.

Smiling, Harry felt the magic working and realised it was waiting for him to speak the words he was searching for.

"Unicorns," Harry said, following the example given by Madam Pince before.

The pages of the book turned silently and opened to a page with a picture of a majestic, silver-white horse-like animal with a long horn protruding from its forehead.

"Wow it worked!" Harry said trying to suppress his gleeful giggle.

"Excellent, Mr. Potter. Though I must inform you, it's not necessary to shout the spell. Especially in the library."

"Ah…right, sorry," Harry replied.

"It's quite uncommon for one to succeed with that spell on their first try," Madam Pince smiled at him, then turned to Michael and adopted her usual annoyed expression once more.

"Now Mr. Corner, it is your turn."

Closing the book, Harry stood back to let Michael cast the spell.

 _How does the magic know that I'm done with the book? Hmm.. Is it because I know I am, so it knows too? But then, what happens if I cast the spell and then walk away while still concentrating on the book? Will the spell still be working if I come back or do I have to recast it? I'll need to experiment._

Distracted by his thoughts, Harry missed Michael's first and second failed attempts.

"You must focus on what you want the spell to do, Mr. Corner."

Michael nodded, but Harry could see he seemed a little frustrated.

"Invenius locus," Michael said, moving his wand just as Harry had done. Golden light spread into the book and Michael grinned broadly. "Unicorns."

Just as it had for Harry, the pages flipped to the image of the unicorn.

"Very good, Mr. Corner," Madam Pince smiled at him briefly. "Now that you've both learned the spell, please ensure you hold your end of our agreement and teach the rest of your year mates."

"We will, Madam Pince," the boys said together.

Nodding, Madam Pince took the book and replaced it under her desk. "Goodbye, gentlemen."

"Goodbye Madam Pince," the boys chorused again.

Turning together, they made their way back to the group's table.

"Huh, that went well," Michael said, "but I still can't tell if she actually wants to help students or not."

"Yeah, on the one hand she seems annoyed by just being asked, but on the other hand, she made us promise to teach our whole year about this very useful spell."

"Yep, but then, you could say that by us doing that, less students will be coming to her for help," said Michael grinning.

"True," said Harry grinning back.

Arriving at the table, they sat back down and recounted their short but educational interaction with the librarian, showing the others the new spell.

"Wow, that spell is brilliant! Let me try," Hermione said, taking out her wand.

Clearing her throat, Hermione followed Harry and Michael's example exactly, "Invenius locus."

Like Harry, Hermione's wand emitted the golden light on her first attempt. Smiling widely at the others, Hermione turned back to the book and spoke the search word, "lighten."

The pages turned and landed on a page entitled 'Lumos'.

"Lumos? Isn't that the spell to light up the tip of your wand?" said Terry.

"Mmm, it must not be matching the word exactly," Hermione said.

"Flick your wand as if you were turning the page and it'll move to the next match," Michael said.

Flicking her wand as Michael described, the pages turned until they stopped on the page entitled 'Feather-light charm'.

"This seems to be it!" Hermione said excitedly.

Harry leaned over and glanced at the opened book. The entire page was crammed from corner to corner with small writing detailing in precise detail on the proper use of the spell.

"This is fascinating," Hermione said, "the author not only describes the wand movements and incantation, but also the results of experimentation when using the spell under different circumstances. For example it says here that if you were to use this spell on something lighter than a feather then it would begin to float away."

"Why would that happen?" asked Terry.

"I don't know," Hermione said with a thoughtful frown, "but I will work it out and let you know."

 _Maybe it's something to do with gravity?_

Harry remained silent as he thought it over.

"Well we only just started, we can work on the nitty gritty tomorrow," said Terry.


	7. Chapter 7

Severus Snape, Hogwarts' resident Potion Master and Head of Slytherin House exited the staircase and stepped into the Headmaster's office.

Sitting in a large chair behind a desk covered with many scrawled scrolls and intricate looking devices was a man that almost perfectly fit the muggle stereotype of the word 'wizard'. The man wore garish purple robes with a contrasting silver star pattern. His long white hair and beard seemed long enough to tuck into his belt and his half-moon spectacles covered his light, bright and sparkling blue eyes. This man was Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts.

"Ah, Severus, very good to you. Please, take a seat," Albus said, gesturing toward one of the chairs on the opposite side of his desk.

Taking his seat, Severus kept his face neutral, "Good day Headmaster."

"Lemon drop?" Albus asked, his hand waving towards the small bowl of wrapped sweets in front of him.

"No, thank you." Severus had never accepted the offer before and he had no intention of doing so now or ever.

Chuckling lightly and taking one for himself, the headmaster popped the sweet into his mouth and sat back in his chair. "Perhaps one day you will accept my offer, if only to please this old man," the headmaster's eyes twinkled as he steepled his fingers. "So, what can I help you with, my boy?"

Severus' lip managed not to quirk and curl, with astonishing self-control. "I'm here to talk about Mr. Potter."

"Ah yes, young Harry," Albus said, stroking his beard slowly. "Striking resemblance to his father."

Severus didn't respond.

"But of course his eyes come from Lily," Albus continued, smiling genially in recollection.

"Potter told me that he had never heard of magic before a few months ago," Severus said.

Albus intertwined his fingers and laid his hands on the table in front of him.

"Why wasn't he aware of magic, Headmaster? Potter is supposed to be a pampered little prince."

"Ah, quite the imagination you have Severus," Albus smiled. "I wished for him to have a normal life, away from his celebrity status in our world. I felt it best to keep him safe from those that would over inflate his ego, or worse."

"I asked the boy about what you had explained to him about our world, as you and I both know you are his magical guardian. He couldn't understand why I would ask him such a question. Am I to understand that you never visited Potter?" Severus' eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

"It was all well taken care of, I assure you my boy. Arabella Figg has been watching over young Harry as a neighbour since he was left in the care of his relatives. She has kept me informed as to Harry's wellbeing."

"Did you never once personally check up on him?"

"There was little need. I have full confidence in Arabella."

"Albus, the boy is clearly malnourished. He has no prior knowledge of magic, and I suspect his relatives have not been a real family to him. Are you truly satisfied with this?"

"He is rather small, but I rather doubt it's something to worry about. He is likely a fussy eater." Albus glanced at an instrument on a shelf to the side, "I assure you, whatever familial problems Harry has had with his relatives, it is still his home."

Snape followed the glance and saw numerous instruments whirring and puffing.

"Thank you for your time, Headmaster," Severus stood.

"My door is always open, my boy," Albus said with a smile, steepling his fingers and leaning back in his chair again.

With a billow of his robes, Snape strode out of the office.

* * *

In the dark of the nighttime dorm room, Harry laid back on his bed, enjoying the luxurious comfort once more. Glancing around the room he saw that he was the only one still awake.

Facing towards the ceiling, Harry instead focused on the status screen appearing in his view.

 **Name:** Harry James Potter  
 **Class:** The Gamer  
 **Title:** Hogwarts Student  
 **Level:** 2  
 **Experience** 50/500

 **HP:** 100/100  
 **MP:** 2000/2000  
 **STR:** 3  
 **VIT:** 5  
 **DEX:** 7  
 **INT:** 9  
 **WIS:** 10  
 **LUK:** 2

 **Points:** 4  
 **Money:** 29G, 2S, 4K

 **Skills:**

 **Persuasion** [LV 2]  
 **Spellcasting** [LV 2]  
 **Penmanship** [LV 2]  
 **Observe** [LV 2]  
 **Potioncraft** [LV 1]

The problem with deciding where to allocate the points was that Harry had no frame of reference for what was normal. How much intelligence or strength should someone of his age have on average anyway? Secondly, he suspected that it was easiest to gain points through training when the attribute's number was low, so it might be a big mistake to allocate points towards strength, vitality or luck while he could make faster gains through another method.

Then again, supposing he started at a base of one, he had apparently only gained two points of strength in his whole life so far, so perhaps it wasn't as easy as he thought.

 _But then, I never really trained to become strong before._

Thinking about how people trained to become strong, he realised that he didn't actually know any specific method other than to pick up heavy things and put them down, over and over again.

Sighing audibly, Harry accepted that he wasn't going to fall asleep while his mind raced over this problem, so he decided to silently make his way out towards the common room.

The room was dark and empty, but somehow not cold. On his way towards the shelves of books, the main fireplace lit itself, bathing the room in a gentle yellow light. Harry smiled at the casual brilliance of magic.

 _That's really neat, wonder how it works._

Harry sat himself on a comfortable chair beside a bookcase and ran his eyes over the tomes. Spotting a particularly thick book, Harry grunted and pulled it off the shelf and carefully put it down on the floor.

 _Considering how quickly I have been gaining wisdom and intelligence, I guess it won't take long to find out if this works._

Looking around to ensure he was alone, and feeling slightly embarrassed even after confirming his solitude, Harry squatted down and picked up the book before putting it down again. He began to repeat the action.

After the seventh repetition Harry was breathing heavily and his whole body was feeling hot and sluggish.

 _Just three more!_

The eight repetition came and went with a grunt, the ninth he struggled through with a bead of sweat dripping from his nose, and the tenth and final repetition caused Harry to strain and heave before finally, successfully, standing fully up straight with the book held in shaking arms. Feeling completely drained he stumbled backwards into the chair behind him, collapsed into the seat with the book landing heavily on his lap.

 **Through diligent effort you have gained 1 Strength!**

Harry grinned happily through his deep gasps for breath, the sweat still beading on his forehead.

Confirming that his strength now read as four in his status screen, Harry thought over what had just happened. Wasn't that actually incredibly quick to gain a whole point of strength if he had otherwise only got two points in his entire life before now? Surely it was due to his Gamer ability.

A few minutes later, Harry stood up again after he had caught his breath. He immediately felt the difference in strength just as he had before. The book felt noticeably lighter. Deciding that the best course of action would be to make the weight as hard to lift as before, Harry stacked another heavy book on top of the first.

He began the same exercise, this time reaching eleven repetitions before he felt the same level of strain as he had near the eighth repetition last time. Once again, he pushed himself, sweat forming and his arms and legs shaking with the effort as he reached the 15th repetition.

 _No increase yet, and I know I can keep going._

With a grunt, Harry pushed through to the 16th and 17th rep, far outstripping his earlier performance. The 18th rep was the last, he just knew. He dug deep, with the same feeling of determination and effort he felt from before, he strained, sweat dripping once more, as he stood up, shaking with the effort.

 **Through diligent effort you have gained 1 Strength!**

Collapsing back into the chair again gasping for breath, Harry felt he realised what it took to increase his stats, or at least specifically strength. It was the effort. It was getting to the point where he either chose to quit and be comfortable, or to push through and keep going. It was when he felt like there wasn't anything left to give, but he did it anyway.

Thinking back to the gains in other attributes from before, it seemed to somewhat match his theory. He had been thinking harder and more deeply than he ever really did before. It was quite possible that a different type of training could increase his vitality. Considering his higher vitality and dexterity than strength, Harry thought that perhaps it was related to the constant running and fleeing he had done in his Dudley-infested years.

 _How am I supposed to increase my luck though?_

Combing tired fingers through his hair in thought, Harry sighed and stood, finally feeling that he could get some sleep.

Grinning at the ease of putting the books back on the shelf, Harry stretched his arms above his head. Satisfied that he had made some decent progress, he turned and walked back to the corridor leading to his dorm.

 _I am really starting to love this ability._

Smiling in reflection of his progress as he went, mid-step Harry blinked.

A gentle breeze brushed gently against his night clothes and through his hair. The air was cool and smelled old.

Heart racing as the surprise struck him, Harry looked around with wide eyes.

 _What just happened?!_

Trees surrounded him, ancient trees, each and every one tall and imposing. The gnarled bark seemed to steal away what little light there was. The canopy above was thick but still a few bright dots of starlight managed to break through the gaps.

Harry stood still, the adrenaline fueled tenseness of his muscles easing as he considered what to do. The earth beneath his bare feet was cool, but not cold.

 _Am I in the Forbidden Forest? How did I even get here?_

He strained his ears, trying to hear anything but the wind and the rustling of leaves overhead.

"Hello?"

His word echoed away quickly, returning him to the quiet once more. There were no insects, he realised.

 _Is this actually a dream? But, it doesn't feel like a dream…_

He sighed as he felt the previous tiredness returning.

"I guess… I'll take a look around?"

After deciding that walking forwards seemed to be as good of a direction as any, he took exactly one step before two things happened.

A blue screen appeared and a high pitched giggle came from deep within the darkness in front of him.

 **You have entered an Instant Dungeon. Be careful.**

Reading the message twice to ensure nothing was missed before dismissing it, Harry gulped at the ominous advice given. Whatever an instant dungeon was, it was apparently dangerous enough for the usually carefree system to actually warn him.

The giggling, though seemingly far away the first time, came again and it was undoubtedly getting closer.

Harry pulled his wand out from his inventory, feeling a little better to have something like a weapon, though didn't know what help it would be with his limited abilities.

He searched around for any other kind of weapon. There were no fallen branches or loose stones, the floor seemed to be unnaturally bare. Looking upwards, Harry saw that the branches of the trees began much higher up than he could reach. Seeing nothing at all useful other than the dirt on the floor, Harry resorted to grabbing a handful of it.

As he stood tall once more, Harry looked forward and yelped, hopping backwards and raising his arms. Some _thing_ was floating in the air in front of him. It was bright blue with black pupil less eyes. Its small face seemed to be staring at him in a kind of fascination, with its mouth open in a small o.

Harry was unsure of what to do. This place and the situation had set him on edge and he felt that he would have to fight even if he really didn't want to.

The creature lazily flew closer towards Harry, inspecting him again.

Harry tensed and _observed_ the creature in return.

 **Level: 5  
** **Pixie  
** **Description: Pixies love tricks and practical jokes. It is able to fly, and enjoys lifting people up by their ears and depositing them on the tops of trees and buildings.**

 _It's three levels higher than me, but does that make a lot of difference in a fight? It's just staring at me… What should I do?_

The pixie's mouth broke into a large grin before it giggled again. Harry grimaced at the shrill sound.

With the pixie floating in front of him doing nothing much but stare at him, Harry felt his tension lessen and dropped his hands to his side.

"Do you, uh… can you talk?" Harry asked.

"Nya nyo, nuhhh… nah nyu nyaaak?" the pixie replied and giggled.

"What?"

"Nahh?"

Harry raised his eyebrows.

"Test."

"Nehh."

"One, two, three."

"Noh, noo, nee."

Harry sighed then chuckled as the pixie flew circles giggling.

"Where are we anyway?" Harry said aloud, mostly to himself, looking about once more.

The pixie quickly flew up to his face again, even closer this time causing Harry to take a cautionary step back.

"Nuah."

"Nuah?" Harry repeated.

The pixie smiled wide, and flew backwards, away from Harry.

"Where are you going?"

The pixie stopped and watched him, frowning now.

"Neh. Neh nah."

"I don't understand," Harry shook his head.

It was the pixie's turn to sigh this time as it flew back to Harry and began pulling on his sleeve.

"Right. Following you then."

Walking in the direction the pixie had flown, he was soon trailing behind it as it zipped and zoomed in the air, a little way ahead of him. There seemed to be no obvious distinction to the path they were taking, so Harry could only wonder as to where the pixie might be leading them.

After five minutes walking the starlit path between the trees, five minutes in which Harry had thrown away the dirt he had been holding and put his wand away, he again wondered what he was doing here, and more importantly how he got here.

There came another giggling sound from ahead.

The pixie in front of Harry turned back to him and grinned. The giggling came again, from the trees ahead.

"A friend?" Harry asked.

The pixie didn't reply, but flew towards the giggling sound. Harry followed, but quickly realised he needed to run to keep up.

"Hey, wait for me!"

The pixie disappeared off into the darkness ahead.

 _How is it so dark so quickly just in front of me anyway? I can see around me with no problem. It's almost as if it were..._

Harry slapped his forehead with self-exasperation.

 _Ugh… it's magic, obviously._

Shaking his head at himself, he began walking forwards towards where the pixie had gone, Harry's steps soon slowed to a stop as he stood still, eyes wide and mouth dropped open in wonder. The scene in front such a startling contrast to the previous monotonous dark.

It was beautiful and wondrous. Harry's eyes roved over the view of the glittering pond, light blue and bright luminescence in the dark surrounding. A frame of white glowing flowers occasionally dropping liquid light, temporarily disturbing the calm stillness of the water. It felt powerfully magically. It was almost too captivating and unnaturally gorgeous.

A particularly loud giggle interrupted his reverie and Harry looked up to see pixies, a whole lot of them, floating and playing in the air above the pond.

"What is this place?" Harry whispered.

The pixies flew down to him, all smiling at him. Harry couldn't help but smile back. He felt happy here. One by one, the pixies settled on his clothing and turned to face the pond. Harry followed along, once more losing himself, looking at the scene.

Harry felt light. This was undoubtedly magical. He felt like he was floating in the air.

The pixies giggled together. The sound loud and shrill, disturbing the peace in Harry's mind, and suddenly Harry realised he didn't just feel like he was floating, he _was_ floating!

"Uuahh!" Harry cried.

"Nuuah!" chroused the pixies, the loudness of their voices so close to his ears hurting.

 _Ahh, my ears!_

They carried Harry up high into a tree, and dumped him down, frantically grabbing onto the thankfully sturdy branch that hung over the pond. Rubbing his sore ears and frowning at the pixies, Harry watched as they all flew around madly, cheering and hugging each other.

"What did you do that for?!" Harry yelled, causing them to laugh and fly away, quickly disappearing into the darkness.

"I'm never trusting a pixie again for as long as I live!"

Rubbing his ears until he was satisfied they weren't torn off or permanently damaged, Harry looked to the tree and felt his heart sink. There was no way he would be able to climb down from here. The tree was simply too massive to put his arms around and there were no hand holds of any sort to make use of.

Looking down at the pond far below, Harry felt a chill run through his hands and feet as he considered the drop.

"What do I do?"

Looking down to pond far below, with his feet dangling off the edge of the thick branch, Harry once more let himself succumb to the beauty. It helped calm him and it was a nice distraction from his current predicament.

 _It's so nice. The water looks soft, like a big, warm, cozy blanket._

Harry smiled while looking down, minutes passing.

The air whipped past his grinning face as he fell, only realising half way down what had just happened. His terrified scream was abruptly cut short as he crashed into the water. Everything hurt. Harry's whole world became pain as his body broke against the shallow depth of the pool.

He surfaced and splashed in a panic, spluttering and gathering great gasps of air as he scrambled for the side of the pond.

Heaving himself onto the verge, Harry remained on all fours as the water dripped from him, head hung low while he regained steady breathing.

Standing carefully, Harry patted his body in amazement and reassured himself that, yes actually, he was fine. Nothing hurt.

"But, how?"

Checking his status, Harry saw his health points were at their maximum, but then noticed something else. Under his list of skills which was normally shown at the bottom, there now read a new section.

 **Effects:**

 **Blessing of Life**

Tapping on the effect, Harry read the words from the new screen.

 **Blessing of Life  
** **From the well of life you have been bestowed.  
** **The effect restores full health once every 24 hours.  
** **The effect cannot be applied more than once every 24 hours.  
** **The effect provides a passive 25% increase to health regeneration for the duration.  
** **Effect duration: 23 hours 57 minutes 3 seconds.**

Harry watched the duration timer tick down as he thought about the words he just read.

 _Did the pixies know I would jump? Did they know I'd survive because of this… blessing?_

Standing up, Harry looked to the water and noticed it seemed to be a little less alluring now. The bright vibrancy from before remained but had somewhat diminished.

 _It's a shame I have nothing to carry this water with…._

Sighing, he looked around considering his next action. Once more alone, there was no reappearance of the pixies.

With difficulty, Harry decided to leave the pond behind, and decided to walk in a random direction, none looking any more advantageous than the others.

Into the darkness, as before, the immediate vicinity around Harry was discernible, but not far off there was an ever present darkness.

 _I could get lost in here forever…_

After a while, Harry stopped walking. He had heard something. Something different. This wasn't the giggling of the pixies or the rustling of the leaves. If he had to describe it, Harry would have said it sounded like a pig. It was coming from ahead of him, and it was getting closer.

Immediately on guard, and deciding not to trust anything, Harry grabbed some dirt and pulled out his wand before running being a thick tree, peeking out as little as possible, to see what was coming.

Moments after Harry had hidden himself, the creature arrived. It was small, and it looked just like a piglet, as long as you ignored the fact that it had bright orange hair covering its whole body and perhaps more importantly the beginnings of a horn protruding from its forehead.

 _Observe._

 **Level: 3  
** **Ignis** **Uni** **porcellus  
** **This piglet is yet too young to take advantage of the prodigious fire based talents of its species. Its horn, though not fully grown, can inflict massive damage.**

The Ignis Uniporcellus began snuffling around the base of the trees not far from Harry.

 _That warning about its horn sounds scary._

 **Quest created!  
** **Defeat the Ignis Uni** **porcellus  
** **Reward: Learn skill 'Escape Instant Dungeon'.  
** **Failure: Remain in the Instant Dungeon.  
** **Accept [Y / N]**

The sudden presence of the new window startled Harry. After ensuring his flinching hadn't alerted the creature, Harry read the quest.

 _Does that mean if I fail I am stuck here? Would I be able to figure out that skill on my own anyway, without the quest? Besides, what does 'defeat' mean anyway? Would I need to just make it run away, or… kill it?_

Rubbing his head with his knuckles, read the quest again.

 _What is pushing me to do these things?_

Taking another look at the young creature, Harry felt a heavy sorrow as his decision had been made.

 _I don't know what else to do…_

 **Quest accepted!**

Taking a step from behind the tree, the Ignis Uniporcellus seemed to notice him immediately. It turned to face him and snuffed the air.

"Hey," said Harry.

It moved towards Harry slowly, warily.

"You're a cute one aren't you," Harry said with a sad smile.

It arrived at Harry's dirty bare feet and sniffed around, the hair on its face tickling him.

"I can't do it…" Harry said to it and it looked up to him almost questioningly. "I'm pretty sure it wants me to hurt you. I don't understand why. You're so small and young. I bet you're not even a year old."

It carried on watching Harry for a few moments longer before losing interest and returning to the tree from before.

Following, Harry tried to see what had caught its interest.

"What's there anyway? What are you looking for?"

Harry couldn't see anything different about this tree when comparing it to the others around him. It looked just as gnarled and old.

As Harry watched a new message appeared.

 **Warning! Defeat the Ignis Uni** **porcellus Quest failure likely.**

A cold fear crept into Harry as he realised he had made a new decision. He was going to fail this quest.

Watching the small creature sniffing with purpose, Harry saw the message window vanish on its own, soon replaced by a new message.

 **Warning! Defeat the Ignis Uni** **porcellus Quest will fail automatically in 2 hours.**

Harry grimaced as he read the message, and dismissed it quickly.

"Well, I'm glad at least I didn't have to hurt you."

It paused its searching and looked up at Harry.

"But how do I get out of here?"

It had no answer for him and seemed to have decided to move on from the tree. It began walking away, past other trees and Harry decided that he had no better direction so began following it.

 _I wonder if I'm going to be stuck here forever, following this little one around._

Occasionally it would pause at a tree and sniff around the base for a few minutes, a repetition of its earlier action, but for almost an hour the pattern didn't change.

Eventually the pattern did change. It had evidently found what it was looking for when it began to squeal excitedly around the base of a tree.

Harry couldn't see anything different about this tree, but looked down at where it was now digging into the earth. Soon enough, a shiny green sphere was unearthed and quickly eaten.

"So that was what you were looking for, whatever it was."

It squealed and jumped about happily before it suddenly stopped, standing absolutely still.

Harry watched, fascinated and concerned for his new friend.

Its hair and horn began to shine bright as the creature rapidly grew into what Harry assumed was its adult size.

The change was quick. Once the glowing stopped, Harry saw that it had become roughly three times bigger than before, with a permanent glow to its hair and a now elongated horn.

"Wow!"

 **Defeat the Ignis Uni** **porcellus Quest changed to** **Defeat the Ignis Uni** **porcus.**

Spotting the change in the name, Harry used observe on it again.

 **Level: 5  
** **Ignis** **Uni** **porcus  
** **This Ignis Uniporcus has reached its juvenile form after successfully completing its growth quest. In its adolescence it has become much more aggressive. It now has access to part of its fire based talents but requires practice. Its horn, though not fully grown, can inflict extreme damage.**

Quickly reading the description Harry looked back to the now named Ignis Uniporcus and watched it warily.

It was staring at him and huffing, its feet scratching into the ground.

"We're still friends, right?"

In answer, it screamed and charged at Harry. It was quick, but being on guard Harry was able to jump out of its way and scramble to his feet.

Taking out his wand again, Harry quickly grabbed a handful of dirt and threw.

 **Ignis** **Uni** **porcus temporarily blinded.**

Harry watched as it shook its head and screamed louder still in its rage. It stumbled about blindly, hitting a tree causing it to stop and stand still.

Harry stood still, and wondered what to do. He only knew two spells.

 _Invenius locus is out, but… no pond for you to land in._

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

The end of his wand fizzled and nothing really happened except that now it knew where Harry was. It turned and began another charge.

Scrambling backwards, Harry swished and flicked his wand once more, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

It was just a moment until the charge was successful, but it was enough time for the spell to take affect and raise the screaming creature into the air. Harry kept his concentration and lifted it, higher and higher. Higher even than he had fallen before.

"I'm sorry…" Harry whispered closing his eyes, and let the spell end.

He heard the fall as the scream got louder and the awful crunching thud as it landed. He turned away and began walking, eyes reading the new messages

 **Foe slain. You have gained 136 EXP.**

 **Quest completed.  
** **Reward: Learned skill 'Escape Instant Dungeon'.**

Harry kept walking, and dismissed the windows. After thinking about it, he understood exactly how he could leave now and didn't hesitate.

Without a sound, Harry felt himself break out of the Instant Dungeon and transition back to the Ravenclaw common room. It was still dark, and the magical fire relit at his return.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Sincerest apologies for the ... delay. Things happen and life changes in big ways. Expect more!

* * *

Albus Dumbledore looked up from his writing when he noticed a stutter in the normally rhythmic puffing of one of his instruments. There had been a momentary pause. A gap.

At a glance, the instrument looked to be functioning properly.

Getting to his feet, Albus stepped over to the object and considered it. Peering down at the instrument, he stroked his beard contemplatively. After some muttered words and a flick of his wand, he stepped back, satisfied that everything was at it should be.

* * *

Harry eased himself down into an inviting armchair in front of the common room fire. He gazed absently towards the flickering of the flames. The weariness from the time away felt heavy, his back bent for the weight of it. Running his fingers through his hair, he reconsidered what had happened.

"It was kill or be killed," Harry muttered.

His eyes hardened into a glare as he thought about the quest and the trap he had found himself in. This game… this system, or whatever it was, had entirely too much power over him, he decided. That it was able to teleport him to another place without warning was worrying enough, but worse was how it had so easily led him down paths of conflict.

"Maybe… maybe it was just introducing the concept of an Instant Dungeon like some sort of tutorial."

Harry sighed. He definitely needed to know more about video games in general. The vague recollections of very occasionally watching Dudley play was simply not enough to work with. If he had a better understanding of how games worked in general then maybe he could learn to anticipate the direction of this one.

 _If I'm stuck with this thing then I need to make it work for me. Besides, it's not like it doesn't have advantages. I have that new skill to leave an instant dungeon now too._

Harry was actually rather skeptical about whether or not that skill would work whenever he wanted it to. He didn't believe he was going to be able to make his own choice and actually be able to leave if the game had other plans.

Thinking back to the brief instance of actual combat, Harry resolved to be more prepared for in future. If it was going to be a question of life and death… well, he had no plans on dying.

Reviewing his status screen, Harry noted that the new skill, Escape Instant Dungeon, was marked as level MAX, however without a number, there was no indication of what that max level referred to. His EXP now showed to be 186/500.

A significant increase from defeating a single _foe_. Harry grimaced. With just that one reward, he had been given more experience than he had needed to level up the first time.

Seeing that four of the five attribute points he had gained from reaching level two were still unallocated, Harry recalled his earlier thoughts about increasing attributes through various methods. Weight training, as rudimentary as it was, had been especially effective for increasing his strength, and he felt that it was reasonable to suspect that training his body through running or some other method would increase his dexterity or vitality.

 _How do I increase my luck though? And when is luck important anyway? If I were to be really lucky, would I win the lottery?_

Looking over his attributes, Harry felt that his luck, currently at two points, needed to be improved the most with the gap between it and the average of the other attributes being as large as it was.

 _It makes sense that you get stronger if you use your strength, but how can you get luckier if you don't use your luck?_

Tired, frustrated and unable to come up with any particular solution, Harry decided to solve this problem in the most immediate way possible. Harry placed the four remaining points into his luck attribute, bringing it to a relatively much higher total of six.

 _I really hope that helps._

With leveling up currently being the only known source of attribute point increases for luck, Harry considered his current methods to gain experience points. He saw that, when comparing to this Instant Dungeon, and more specifically defeating a single foe, his currently achievable quests rewarded a very small amount of experience. In the case of his homework, and of discovering more about Professor Quirrell, both quests together provided only 140 experience, just four more experience than a single kill. Defeating foes seemed to be a particularly lucrative source of experience. The thought of the boost in experience if it were a group of enemies was especially appealing.

 _Am I really considering the experience point benefits of slaughtering animals?_

Harry leaned his head into his hands and sighed. He felt entirely too tired for this kind of thinking right now.

Standing and making his way once more to his room, Harry felt his pulse quicken. He took slow careful steps, eyes and ears straining as he moved forward. Reaching the staircase, he let out the breath he was holding and chuckled to himself.

 _I might be becoming paranoid._

Quietly, he ascended the stairs and reentered the dorm room. The guys were all sleeping peacefully.

Climbing into his bed, Harry settled in and turned his head to look out the window. The night sky was still dark. In fact, shouldn't it be getting lighter by now? Checking the watch he had left on his bedside table, Harry saw that it showed that he had been away from his bed for only about an hour and twenty minutes.

 _I was definitely in that Instant Dungeon for longer than that. I even spent about that much time on my own in the common room…_

Harry's eyes widened.

Was it possible that time has stopped when he was inside the Instant Dungeon? That was somewhat alarming. What if he got stuck inside for a while? Would he come out looking much older while everyone else was the same?

On the other hand, it would definitely be useful if he needed some extra time to finish his homework.

He grinned at the prospect.

Wondering how he might purposefully open a way into an instant dungeon, Harry waited for a moment to see if the game would provide an answer.

"No?" Harry whispered to himself at the lack of response. "Fine."

 _I guess I'll just need to figure out it myself._

Lying back on the bed, Harry stared at the ceiling. Undistracted now, the full weight of his physical, mental and emotional exhaustion pressed down on him. In the warm and secure embrace of the blankets, he found himself feeling cocooned, hidden away from his new reality, just for now. He closed his eyes and in moments was asleep.

* * *

When Harry woke, his heart hammered once more before he recognised his surroundings. He was still here, in his bed. As checked his bedside watch, he saw that there was still a while until the day's classes. Today he would ensure he enjoyed a long breakfast.

Sitting up, Harry looked out to the new morning's soft light, enjoying the novelty of being able to simply take a moment. He stared at the slowly moving yellow clouds while he considered his feelings after that much-needed sleep.

There was much to be done. This game was progressing at its own quick pace and he felt like he was only barely keeping up. Priority one was to figure out the best course forward. To prepare himself for any future sudden whiskings-away and whatever that may entail.

"G'morning," Terry half-whispered as walked into the room.

Cutting off his introspection, Harry quickly switched from his thoughtful frown to what he hoped was a sincere-looking smile.

"You're up early," Harry replied, his voice also kept low.

"Gotta work hard," Terry said with an exaggerated wink and his normal grin as he made his way to his bed. He was already dressed in his school robes and looked clean and fresh.

"Transfiguration first today," Terry said, waving some parchment at Harry. "You did the homework right?"

"Of course," Harry nodded. "There's no way I'd want _her_ upset with me."

Terry nodded, his face grave. "Magic forgive those poor souls who anger _her_."

Ravenclaw house knew Professor McGonagall was not someone you wanted to be on the bad side of and made sure their first years knew it. There was no doubt as to who _her_ was.

Harry nodded seriously, his face equally grave. They shared a moment of silence before grinning at one another, stifling their laughter.

"Are you going down to breakfast now?" Harry asked after a pause.

"Yeah, gotta start the day the right way, right?" Terry quipped.

"Right," Harry nodded. "I'll come down too, as soon as I'm ready."

"Alright. Maybe wake these two up before you leave?" Terry motioned to the other two with his hand.

 **Quest created!**

 **Wake up Michael and Anthony.**

 **Reward: Increased relationship with The Guys.**

 **Failure: Decreased relationship with The Guys.**

 **Accept [Y / N]**

Harry read the message and glanced at the sleeping forms of his dorm mates, "That's probably a good idea."

 **Quest accepted!**

Terry waved as he left before Harry quickly went through his own morning preparations.

With his first attempts, Harry found waking the two sleeping boys to be strangely difficult. They each completely ignored his soft words and gentle nudges. His second attempts with his voice raised and less-than-gentle prods were similarly fruitless. Sighing, and becoming a little exasperated Harry figured he might as well test something he'd been considering.

"It's best if you wake up now," Harry's voice was no louder than normal, but he could feel that there was something extra mixed in. His words felt somehow heavier than before. He smiled as it worked just as he had hoped. He had managed to activate the persuasion skill by choice.

 **Persuasion successful!**

 **Through persistent use, your Persuasion skill has increased to level 3!**

"Wuhah!" cried Michael, sitting bolt upright.

Anthony looked up and around at Harry before retreating under his pillow.

 **Quest completed.**

 **Reward: Increased relationship with The Guys.**

 _Huh, such different reactions. Maybe they have different resistances?_

"Morning guys," Harry said with a wide amused smile.

"Ugh," Michael said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"It's time to get up. I'm going down to breakfast and Terry's already gone."

Michael mumbled something Harry couldn't quite make out to himself but nodded nonetheless.

Looking at Anthony, Harry thought that he was probably going to be falling asleep again. "Make sure Anthony wakes up?"

Michael looked over and sighed seeing the challenge he was being presented with.

"Good luck!" Harry grinned and waved his own goodbye as he left the dorm.

* * *

Upon entering the Great Hall, Harry saw that there was only a small fraction of the student population present, with the Ravenclaws holding the current majority, closely followed by the Slytherins.

At the end of the Ravenclaw's table that was closest to the staff's table sat Terry. Across from him was Lisa Turpin and it looked like they were both focusing on their own books while occasionally picking at their plates. Harry smiled. How very Ravenclaw.

As he made his way towards his yearmates, Harry passed by some of the older members of his house and exchanged brief but pleasant greetings with them. Having so many people he didn't know wanting to speak to him was still unusual, but not altogether unwelcome.

Taking a seat beside Terry, Harry greeted both him and Lisa before he grabbed his own breakfast and dug in. A few minutes passed in Ravenclawesque silence before Harry turned to Terry.

"Terry, can I ask you some more questions about video games?"

Terry grinned. "Harry, I know we're Ravenclaw and all but are you sure you're not becoming obsessed with that one subject?"

"Ah, well, I just find them really interesting is all." Harry hoped he wasn't being suspicious with his apparent _obsession_.

"Well, I suppose it could be worse," Terry shrugged. "You could be obsessed with golf or something else just as boring."

"What's golf?" Lisa asked, lowering her book.

Terry looked to her with a thoughtful expression. "It's a Muggle sport that's played for entertainment. A bit like Quidditch… well, only a little. But anyway, you play alone and you hit a small ball really far with a long club with the goal of getting the ball into a small hole."

"Ah, how interesting," Lisa said, eyes lighting up. "And the hole is guarded, I imagine?"

"Er, no. It's stationary with nothing directly in the way, but the way the course is built makes the challenge more or less difficult. Though you can just hit it straight into the hole if you're really good, or lucky."

"Oh." She sounded disappointed.

"There's mini-golf though, and that is a bit more tricky… in some ways, or so I've heard," Harry added, thinking back to when he'd heard Dudley complaining loudly one time as he arrived back home after he'd performed particularly poorly. Harry, of course, hadn't been allowed to join.

"Yeah, good point." Terry nodded.

"Mini-golf? So, a smaller version of the same thing?" Lisa asked. "Are the ball and hole smaller too?"

"Uh, no, actually I think the hole is bigger in mini-golf?" Terry looked to Harry who shrugged.

"Well anyway, the point is golf is boring."

"Well it doesn't sound too exciting, but people play it for fun, right?" Lisa asked.

"Well, yeah…" Terry said.

"She's got you there," Harry smirked and Lisa smiled at him.

"Well anyway, what did you obsessively want to know about video games?" Terry asked, turning to face Harry.

"Ah, right. Well, lots of things really. What kinds of games are there? What systems are involved in those games? What are common stories in games with say, a hero? Do games have quests? If you play a game with a character that levels up, what are the best choices to make? What's usually the best way to get experience?"

Terry's eyes slowly widened as the list of questions continued piling up. Grabbing his drink, Terry took a deep gulp.

"Right," Terry said, "So what I know is…"

What followed was essentially a crash course in video games. Harry learned that while there were many types of games, from point and click adventures to racing car games and many more besides, the game he was playing more closely resembled a role-playing game. Focusing more on this genre, Harry was able to learn more about what Terry believed were the most common themes involved in those stories.

There seemed to always be an overarching goal for the main character. To save a princess. To defeat an enemy. Though Harry couldn't say what his goal was. His quests just didn't seem to have a consistent theme or be pointing in any single direction.

Terry also laid out some general rules in terms of character development but admitted that he was no expert; it wasn't unusual for him to have to restart a game and try a different method. He said he often noted that he'd either focused too deeply on one particular strength, like offensive special magic abilities, while neglecting his character's health and defense. In those cases, it worked out that sometimes such a character excelled for parts of or even all of a game, and could one hit kill things so defense wasn't ever a problem. Other times, he'd not have enough power to win in the first strike and would then be at the enemy's mercy with his own weak defense becoming the reason for his eventual downfall.

Harry wondered if his choices of stat point allocation were right so far, but really he couldn't say one way or the other. He was still alive for now after all. If there was a way in which he could redo his allocations, would he change the choices he'd made so far? He didn't think so. Best to assume he wouldn't able to change them and make the choices which best fit with his long term goals. Like not dying in an instant dungeon. He'd definitely be investing into defense.

Terry also mentioned that in most of the games he had played, statistics generally played a secondary role when compared to the power of items the character was able to find and use. He fondly regaled Harry with the tale of finally acquiring the legendary weapon The Sword Of Absolute Destruction which enabled that particular hero character to kill almost all his enemies with a single attack.

Looking to his wand, Harry didn't really know how he could replace it for something better, if that were even possible, so suspected the equivalent in this situation would be better and more magnificent spells.

When Harry asked Terry about tutorials and how games introduced new players to things, Terry said that it was really up to the creators of that specific game. Sometimes you were given a paper manual to read. Sometimes there was no real tutorial but the game was so similar to something you'd already played that it wasn't difficult to understand the controls. Sometimes you just had to figure it out and die over and over until you got it or gave up.

Harry gulped at the idea of dying until he got it right. He was in no way going to assume that was a possibility. His game may be introducing things to him in its own way or he might have been dropped in the proverbial deep end. While he thought the quests tended to be a guide to progress himself, he wasn't sure if they were based on a certain narrative or just situational. Harry decided the best way forward was to assume the game wasn't going to help him and be pleasantly surprised if it did.

Harry concluded that right now his attributes, or stats as Terry called them, played a bigger role than in the games Terry played, and that he needed to train them as quickly as possible. He wanted to investigate the possibility of items providing boosts to his stats, and according to Terry's experience, it seemed likely that defeating monsters would be a likely source. Did that creature from last night drop something when Harry had been looking away?

With all of Harry's immediate questions had been more or less answered, Terry spoke up once more.

"I've not played that many different games really. Less than ten. With most of them being role-playing games. What I mean is, I'm not a gaming expert. There's way more games out there than what I've played."

Harry understood that even though Terry had been able to answer his questions, he had limited experience and Harry would need to further his research with more sources of information.

"Even so, you have way more experience than me," Harry said. "Thanks."

"No problem Harry. What are friends for?" Terry clapped him on the shoulder.

Slowly but surely, the remaining members of Ravenclaw entered the hall. Anthony and Michael arrived, chatting and joking as had become the new normal. Harry let himself forget about his worries for the moment and just enjoyed spending the morning with his friends.

* * *

As Harry handed his homework to the Transfiguration professor, he received the prompt he'd been waiting for.

 **Quest partially completed.**

 **Reward: 40 EXP, Increased relationship with Professor McGonagall.**

Noticing the odd new variation to the quest completion message, Harry supposed this was probably due to the fact that the quest stipulated he also needed a passing grade. Having received the listed rewards for only handing it in, Harry thought it was likely that the hidden bonus reward would be granted if he did actually get a passing grade.

While not as impactful as it would have been previously, the EXP was nonetheless gratefully received. Harry was now nearly halfway to level three. Looking up, he caught a small smile on McGonagall's face before she shooed him away so the next student could drop off their own homework.

Throughout the class, Harry had constantly been using his _Observe_ skill on items and people around him. From the things hanging around the classroom, there was a lot of information he either didn't understand references to, or the description was simply not descriptive enough.

A metal cage beside the teacher's desk gave the not so descriptive description of 'A metal cage'. Harry figured, and hoped, the skill had varying degrees of information it could provide, probably based on the power, or level, of the skill itself, so when he had received the prompt that his _Observe_ skill had increased to level 3, he checked the cage once more.

 **Metal cage**

 **An iron metal cage.**

Just like that, he now knew it was made from iron. Harry found that particularly exciting. Imagining his ability when the skill raised to level ten or even 100, he daydreamed about being some sort of antique dealer and immediately knowing which items were of real value and which items were trash. The prospect of being able to know the contents of a potion at a glance sounded brilliant too. He could pretend to be a potions genius!

Throughout the rest of the day, Harry tried to focus as much as he could on the classes. History of Magic was particularly challenging. The old ghost hardly bothered to introduce the topic before he began rambling about Goblin rebellions. Quite a large problem, Harry found, was that the professor hadn't started at the beginning of the story. He was currently describing the disastrous economic impact of a particularly nasty battle which had itself been the result of a broken treaty. The treaty itself had been brokered in response to a previous rebellion which began for a reason Harry no idea about.

Harry scrambled to take notes, the numerous dates and names of certain important figures being written down neatly with his improving _Penmanship_ skill.

 **Through persistent use, your Penmanship skill has increased to level 3!**

Noticing his fellow students were all either struggling with all their might to continue to focus on the professor or already snoozing, Harry felt safe he wouldn't be questioned about wiggling his hand around in front of his face for a little while. Leaning forwards so as to hide his hand from view, Harry pressed his finger on the skill Penmanship skill specifically and saw that the speed had increased to 30%.

 **[Penmanship](Active) LV3 EXP: 0%**

 **The art or skill of writing by hand.**

 **Increases speed without errors by 30%.**

With a base increase of 10%, this meant he had gained 10% by each skill level increase thereafter. Not bad at all. Consciously trying to increase his writing speed, Harry felt a noticeable comfort that he knew didn't exist only days ago.

Tapping on Potioncraft, Harry was surprised to find this particular skill provided two benefits.

 **[Potioncraft](Active) LV1 EXP: 0.0%**

 **The subtle science and exact art of potion-making.**

 **Increases brewing ability by 5%.**

 **Increases potion potency by 5%.**

Harry supposed it stood to reason that the better he was at creating a potion, then the greater that potion's effects would be. It was like being a better chef; you would probably make tastier food if you were more skilled at it.

Having what seemed to be a generic ability increase at the same time was very welcome. It did beg the question as to what 'brewing ability' actually referred to though. Was it the ability to cut up ingredients? To time the brewing properly? To stir correctly? Or was it to follow the instructions without a mistake? Perhaps it was all of those. It would need to be investigated.

"Hey Harry, wake up."

"Huh?" Harry replied with surprise, looking up to see Michael standing before him.

"Class is over man, time to go. Herbology is next," Michael pointed over his shoulder to the rest of the class exiting the room.

Looking to the front of the room, Harry saw the ghostly professor floating in place, staring at nothing in particular.

 _Creepy._

"Right." Harry quickly put away his belongings and subconsciously closed the status windows he had opened.


	9. Chapter 9

Ron walked into the Hogwarts Entrance Hall and cast his eyes about at the few present students. He spotted Harry, who was looking at, or perhaps one could say closely examining, four giant spheres of glass. These spheres displayed, Ron knew, by the quantity of smaller coloured spheres of glass contained within, how many house points each house had earned so far.

"Hey, Harry!" Ron said as he trotted up to him.

"Ah, hey Ron," Harry replied turning and smiling at his approach.

"Has it been raining?" Ron asked, glancing at Harry's damp hair then looking towards the castle's front door.

"Huh?" Harry followed Ron's eyes, "Oh this?" Harry said, running his fingers through his hair, "No, not that I know. I had a quick shower before I came down to meet you."

"Oh, right." Ron nodded accepting the explanation. His face screwed up in thought and he shook his head, "Wait, why?"

Harry looked like he was about to laugh, "I went out for a quick jog after classes were over."

Ron nodded again. Harry waited. Ron's brows knitted together.

"I wanted to get some exercise," Harry explained.

Ron said nothing for a moment then simply shrugged. "Rather you than me."

Harry grinned then turned to the globes once more.

"These are really interesting. How do they stay up to date?" Harry said, watching a couple of small spheres trickle from nothing down into the pile on Slytherin's green sphere. "Does it automatically know when a teacher awards points?"

"S'magic," Ron said simply.

Harry nodded slowly with a thoughtful expression.

Ron glanced at the contents of the spheres and noticed one pile was already significantly larger than the others.

"Slytherin's winning already," Ron groaned. "It's not fair. Snape gives them way too many free points."

"I did notice they had a pretty big lead," Harry said. "Well, I guess if what you say is true, we'll just need to work extra hard to make up for it."

"Uhh, yeah, I guess," Ron said. "It wouldn't be so bad if McGonagall did the same as Snape, but she's as likely to take points away from us as she is to give them."

"Hey that sounds pretty good to me," Harry smirked, "less of a challenge for Ravenclaw."

"Doesn't matter if Ravenclaw gets a few points, they still won't win." Ron waved his hand dismissively.

"Oh, we'll see about that."

"That's the spirit! It's a shame you're not a lion," Ron sighed. "But, at least you're not a snake."

"Uh, a lion?"

"Lion for Gryffindor, the house animal," Ron clarified, "Gryffindor which is the best house. And you know what? Our games will prove it!"

"Uh, I don't exactly represent the whole of Ravenclaw, Ron."

"Harry, this is a battle between houses!"

Harry laughed, "OK and where will this _battle_ take place?"

"Oh, right. It's just up one floor." Ron nodded his head to the stairs. "My brother - Fred, I think - told me about it. I checked it out before I came here just to make sure he wasn't trying to prank me."

"Wait wait," Harry said, "you _think_ it was your brother Fred?"

"Yeah?" Ron paused for a moment. "Oh! Right. You've haven't met them yet, have you?"

"No, I haven't."

"They're identical twins, Fred and George. Well, twin terrors more like," Ron sighed. "They love pranking people, and usually that means me."

"Like, picking on you?" Harry asked, his voice hardened slightly. "Like bullying?"

"What? No. It's usually just for fun, you know?" Ron smiled slightly. "Well, except those times when it 'went too far', as mum says."

"Too far?" Harry asked.

"Ah, nothing too serious," Ron faced the stairs. "Just pranks. Anyway, let's go to the room, it's really close by."

"OK," Harry said, pausing for a moment. "Following you then."

Ron and Harry took the staircase to the first floor. A short distance from the staircase, they stopped in front of a classroom door.

"It's just in here," Ron said.

Harry nodded and waited, watching Ron who paused at the door and was looking over the door carefully.

"Well, shall we go inside?" Harry said.

Opening the door slowly, Ron peeked inside.

Harry waited a few moments then asked, "Everything alright?"

"So far," Ron said.

With slow and deliberate movements, Ron entered the classroom and crept around. His eyes scanned the various surfaces as well as the conspicuous set of table and chairs that were placed in the center of the room.

"Er, I thought you said you already checked the room?" Harry asked.

"Yeah I did," Ron said, "but that was then and this is now. It could have been messed with since then."

"Good point."

It took a few minutes more before Ron was satisfied enough and declared that the room was free of traps. Harry agreed that he wasn't able to find anything unusual either. As far as they could tell, it was a perfectly normal, albeit slightly dusty, unused classroom.

"There's no use checking anymore," Ron said with a shrug, "If there is anything here, I can't find it. It's like the twins say, if I can't find then I deserve to be pranked."

Harry raised his eyebrows, "That's one way of looking at it I suppose."

"OK," Ron said, taking his seat and letting out his breath in a big sigh. "What shall we play first?" He placed his school bag onto the desk. "Exploding Snap, Gobstones or Wizard's Chess?

"Well," said Harry, seating himself across from Ron, "why don't you choose?"

"OK, but which one's your favourite?"

"The thing is," Harry said, "I haven't played any of them before."

"Huh?" Ron raised his eyebrows, "How come? I thought everyone had played these at least once."

"I'm pretty sure these games don't exist in the non-magical world though. Especially Wizard's Chess."

"Ah! I forgot you were raised by muggles. Sorry, Harry."

Harry waved his hand dismissively, "It's nothing, don't worry about it."

"It's just that you're Harry Potter, you know?" Ron continued, "It's kind of hard to forget the picture I've got in my head."

"Picture in your head?"

"Oh, you know," Ron said, gesticulating, "Harry Potter is the boy hero who fights dragons. You can cast incredible magic spells that even adults wizards can't. You go on adventures with your pet phoenix and solves mysteries."

"Oh no," Harry groaned, palming his forehead, "not you too."

Ron's ears started to redden. "They're the stories we read as. As children, I mean. They're the stories my parents read to us."

"Ron, I'm just Harry. I probably know way less about magic than you do."

"Yeah, right. That's hard to believe," Ron said.

"Are dragons even real? I've never seen a dragon, let alone fought one," Harry continued.

"Yeah, most people won't have seen one for real I bet, they're not very common," Ron replied.

"But they really do exist?"

"What?" Ron said, "Dragons?"

Harry nodded.

"Definitely! My brother Charlie works with them in Romania at a reserve."

"Wow..." Harry sat back with wide thoughtful eyes.

"You really didn't know, did you?"

"No. They're just a fantasy in the non-magical world."

"You know," Ron chuckled, "when I think about it, the stories about you fighting dragons do seem a bit unbelievable."

Harry stared at Ron with a 'you don't say' look.

"W-well anyway, how about we start with Exploding Snap?" Ron pulled out a small box from his bag and placed it on the center of the table.

Harry looked at the intricate packaging. "How do we play?"

"Right. When you see two cards with identical pictures you hit the card with the tip of your wand. That gets you one point," Ron said, taking out the cards. "We play until all cards are matched and whoever earns the most points wins."

"Sounds simple enough," Harry said.

"Oh it's simple enough," Ron grinned. "Just make sure you watch out for the explosions."

"Uh... explosions?"

Ron's grin widened.

* * *

Harry leaned back in his chair and studied Ron for a moment before smirking. "So, Gryffindor's the best huh?"

"You said you've never played before!" Ron said, head in hands.

"I really haven't though," Harry said, smiling.

"But you were so quick. How did you do that?" Ron grumbled, "You got really lucky too. Your side was way easier."

Harry's stayed silent but his smile widened.

"I can understand you winning once or twice, but honestly, ten out of ten games is a bit much."

"I'm just as surprised as you are actually," Harry admitted.

Harry glanced at the status screen only he could see which displayed the temporary bonus he had received upon starting to play.

 **Beginner's Luck  
** **You've never played this game before. Your fortune shines and brings you success in your inexperience.  
** **The effect lasts for one hour.  
** **The effect can only be caused by special circumstances.  
** **The effect provides a passive 200% increase to Luck for the duration.  
** **Effect duration: 0 hours 4 minutes 32 seconds.**

"I thought for sure I'd win at least once," Ron sighed.

"I'm just impressed you kept going for as long as you did," Harry replied.

"Yeah, well..." Ron leaned back and stretched his arms out wide. "Next time, we'll play chess. Wizard's Chess. I'm really good at it."

"That's fine by me. Just don't be too upset when you lose."

Ron glowered at him causing Harry to laugh.

"So… same time, same place, next week?" Ron asked.

"Sure," Harry smiled.

"Great! Well it's pretty late," Ron began packing away the game, "we should probably get back to our dorms before curfew."

"Good point," Harry said. "Need help with that?"

"Nah it's fine. You go on ahead Harry, I'll see you later."

"Alright," Harry stood and walked to the door, "good night."

"Night." Ron waved.

Leaving the classroom, Harry made his way to the staircase.

 _Hope he isn't actually as upset as he seems. He's just playing, right? Though, I guess losing so many times in a row would feel pretty bad. Who would have thought I would have such a powerful bonus?_

Looking back at the temporary bonus effect Beginner's Luck, he saw the duration counter drop to the last few seconds before the entry vanished. A quick check of his luck stat revealed that it had returned to a more normal looking number, though now two points higher than what it had been before the game had begun.

 _Two whole points of luck just for an hour of playing. That's really good! Though I bet it'll take longer to increase the higher it gets, just like strength._

Imagining the long amount of time it would likely take for it to reach even 20 points, Harry wondered how he might best maximise his time in order to most efficiently improve his stats in various areas. Harry looked at his stats which displayed his Dexterity as eight points. A single point increase from earlier. A single activity had enabled him to raise the value of two different attributes.

 _I should play more games!_

Harry chuckled to himself, rounding a corner.

"Oof!" someone said, as Harry collided into them, knocking both of their bags to the ground.

"Sorry," Harry said automatically, scrambling to pick up his bag while noticing the other person was a girl in his year he hadn't yet spoken to. A pretty blonde girl with Slytherin accented robes, Harry noted. Glancing above her head, he saw her name and level.

 **Hogwarts Student  
** **LV4 Daphne Greengrass**

"You should watch where you're walking!" Daphne said, dusting off her robes and leaning down to grab her school bag.

"Er," Harry said, not sure how to react to the sudden aggression.

"Are you bli-", she stopped, seeing who she was speaking to. Her eyes widened and her voice cut off suddenly with an odd strangled sound.

"Well," Harry said after a moment of waiting for her to continue. "I _do_ need glasses, but I _can_ still see pretty well when I wear them." Harry laughed at his own joke and waited again for a moment as the girl gaped.

"You're Harry Potter."

Harry held back a sigh. "Yep, that's my name. Who are you?"

"Oh," the girl took a step back, straightened her robes again and performed an immaculate curtsey. "My name is Daphne Greengrass. It's an honor to finally meet you."

"Er, right, it's nice to meet you too," Harry said.

"I'm sorry about a moment ago," Daphne said, moving her hands back and forth to indicate the earlier accident. "I was just very surprised."

"It's fine," Harry said, waving it off, "as long as you're not hurt?"

"No," Harry saw her cheeks had pinked a little. "I'm not hurt. Thank you for your concern."

"OK, well it's nearly curfew," Harry said, "so we should probably get going."

"Yes. That's true," Daphne said.

"So… I'll guess I'll see you in class then?" Harry said taking a step.

Daphne nodded, "Yes. See you in class."

"Well, good night," Harry said as he walked by. Glancing back he saw Daphne hadn't moved from her spot. She just stood still, watching him leave.

 _Weird._

Once Harry had arrived at the Ravenclaw common room entrance and answered the riddle, he stopped and slapped himself on the forehead.

 _I forgot to Observe her! Ugh, so much for utilising these skills to their maximum potential._

"Hey, Harry!"

Harry looked to the origin of the calling voice and saw The Guys sat at what was becoming their usual table.

"Ah, hey guys," Harry walked over and took a seat.

"Had a good time?" Michael asked.

"Yeah, it was fun. And just so you know, Ravenclaw beat Gryffindor ten to zero."

"Wow, nice!" Terry said. "What were you playing?"

"Exploding Snap. I've never played it before actually. It's a pretty fun game."

"And you won ten out of ten games?" Anthony asked.

"Damn," Terry said, "Ron must really suck!"

Harry laughed. "Actually most of the games were really close. I just got really lucky."

"Ah, must've been beginner's luck," Michael said, sagely nodding with arms folded across his chest.

Harry glanced at Michael. "Yeah, probably something like that..."

Harry took a moment and noticed that they all had books out and were studying what seemed to be History of Magic.

"Did you finish your homework yet?" Terry asked, seeing Harry looking at his own homework.

"I didn't have time yet. I'll start right now."

Terry grinned. "This benevolent friend of yours will give you a clue. Page 68."

Harry frowned. "Page 68? But we only just started."

"Yeah well," Terry shrugged, "apparently Binns doesn't start at the beginning."

"What-" Harry shook his head and cut himself off. Taking his glasses off, Harry closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.

"Hah! I know _that_ feeling," Terry pat Harry's shoulder.

"Ooh wow, that's exactly what Anthony looked like earlier," Michael said.

"Why do we even have a ghost teacher though?" Anthony said with annoyance in his voice. "He's clearly not suited for the position any longer."

Michael laughed and shrugged. "Beats me!"

"Well, thanks for the tip," Harry said with a sigh, putting his glasses back on, "I better get started."

Some minutes later, Harry looked up from what he considered pretty decent progress.

"By the way," Harry said, "does any of you happen to know Daphne Greengrass? She's a Slytherin first year."

"Nope."

"Not me."

"I know _of_ her," Anthony replied. "Why do you ask, Harry?"

"I... met her in the corridor. Well, I bumped into her actually, on the way back just now." Harry said. "Anyway, she seemed to be really into the whole Harry Potter is a hero thing."

Anthony smiled. "Well that's not unusual is it?"

"Unfortunately not," Harry said, "but even so, she seemed particularly... " he waved his hand, searching for the word.

"Affected?" Anthony supplied.

"Yeah. Her whole attitude changed as soon as she realised who it was she bumped into."

"Oh?"

"At first she was really angry that someone had bumped into her, but then as soon as she saw it was me, she became really, uh, nice and proper?"

Anthony nodded. "She's an heiress. She'll have wanted to make the best possible impression, I imagine."

"Right... an heiress," Harry said.

"It means she's going to inherit the Greengrass fortune and become head of her family at some point. Their family is very wealthy and her father is a Lord, so she would become Lady Greengrass."

"Oh, so she's like royalty or something?"

"Well... something like that," Anthony said. "Though we don't actually have magical royals, at least not in the United Kingdom. There are in other countries though."

"That's interesting." Harry paused before continuing, "But why would she try to make a good impression with me anyway? I got the feeling she doesn't do that to everyone."

Anthony didn't reply and instead looked to the other two.

"Harry come on, man," Michael said, taking his cue. "You've got to have figured it out by now."

"Figured what out?"

"Is he really a Ravenclaw?" Michael asked the others.

"You're bachelor number one, Harry!" Terry said with a wide grin and an exaggerated wink.

"Bachelor? Me? B-but I'm only eleven years old!" Harry spluttered. "I don't even think about girls like that!"

"So," Michael said, eyebrows raised, "you like boys then?"

"No!" Harry felt his cheeks redden. "I like girls!"

Harry tried to ignore the sound of girls in the common room giggling.

"Nothing wrong with boys liking boys, my mum said," Terry supplied.

"'Live and let live' my dad always says," Michael said.

"Right, but I don't like boys that way." Harry ran his hands through his hair. "This has gone really off track."

"What they were trying to say," Anthony said, "is that because you're Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, you're basically prince charming."

Harry groaned.

"Oh, he understood that," Anthony said, facing the others, "I did wonder if he would get that reference."

"What? Prince charming?" Terry asked.

"Yes, I wasn't sure if it was a magical only story."

"I'm pretty sure it exists on both sides," Michael said, stroking his chin. "Even though I am fairly confident it's magical in its origin."

"It's really interesting how some stories span the two worlds, isn't it?" Anthony mused.

"Yeah, like dragons," Harry said. "No, wait," Harry shook his head, "we're off track again."

"Well anyway," Anthony said, "that's probably why she acted how she did."

"But hey, isn't she super pretty? And rich? Man, people would kill to be in your shoes Harry," Terry said, grinning.

"They can have them."

The guys laughed.

"I'm going to finish this homework," Harry said, refocusing on his parchment.

 _Prince Charming, huh?_

Glancing up, he saw the guys were all smiling at him.

"Don't you three have something better to do?" Unable to resist, Harry smiled back.

"Nope," Terry said, "we already finished ours."

"Oh yeah? Mine will be better," Harry said.

"Pfft," Michael said, "good luck besting my brilliance."

"Yours?" Terry said, rounding on Michael, "Oh please, you kept asking me for help, even though you know we agreed not to."

"And _you_ asked _me_ for help," Anthony said, "Clearly _I_ will receive the highest grade."

As the three bickered, Harry grinned and carried on with his own work.

* * *

"Harry! Harry, wake up!"

Harry sat up, waking from a dream he suddenly forgot.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Harry asked, fumbling for his glasses.

"You!" Terry said.

"Huh?" Harry looked around and saw the other three boys were awake, hovering near his bed with concerned faces.

"Harry, you were thrashing around in your sleep, practically yelling." Michael said, "And you really don't look good."

"You look awful," Terry said.

Harry put a hand to his forehead. He realised he was sweating heavily. Now that he checked properly, he really didn't feel very good at all.

"Ah, I'm sorry about waking you all."

Michael waved it off. "Are you OK now?"

"No," Harry shook his head. "No, actually I feel pretty bad."

"We should take you to the nurse," Anthony said.

Harry nodded and swung his legs off the side of the bed. He checked his status, hoping that it might provide any useful information whatsoever, and immediately noticed his HP was at 75/120.

 _120? Oh, right. The vitality increase from running. I'm so glad I went! I'll definitely be making_ that _a regular thing._

A few moments later, his HP updated and read as 74/120.

 _Uh oh..._

Harry scanned through his status until he saw something new and grimaced. In the place of the Blessing of Life was something else.

 **Curse of Death  
** **There is no light without darkness.  
** **The effect removes 1 health point once every 5 minutes.  
** **The effect cannot be applied more than once every 24 hours.  
** **Effect duration: 20 hours 9 minutes 51 seconds.**

 _Oh no._

"Yeah," Harry said jumping up out of bed, eyes wide. "Nurse."

"OK Harry," Michael said calmly. "No problem, we'll go right away."

The four boys quickly left the dorm room, the guys making sure Harry was following and pulling him along with them.

"Wait," Terry said, looking to the others as they paused. "Does one of us even know the way to the nurse?"

"I know the way, follow me," Anthony said, taking the lead out of the common room and down the stairs.

Five minutes later, another one HP down, and a few flights of stairs, Harry was standing inside the Hogwarts Hospital Wing.

Looking around, Harry saw that it was empty.

"Uh, hello?" Harry said.

A door to his right opened with a soft click and Harry saw an older woman bustle out of a small room.

 **Healer  
** **LV? Poppy Pomfrey**

"I do hope you have a reason for being here at this hour? It's very late boys, you shouldn't be out of bed."

"We know Madame, it's just that Harry here is feeling very bad," Anthony said, waving his hand towards Harry.

"Oh? Take a seat here Mr. Potter."

Harry sat down in the chair she directed.

"Now, what is the matter?"

"I... I guess I was shouting in my sleep and woke up the others," Harry said looking to the others who nodded, "and so they woke me up. Since then I noticed that I'm sweating a lot, and I feel really bad."

Harry watched as the nurse brought out her wand and swished it over him in intricate patterns while mumbling words he couldn't make out.

"Boys, you may now leave Mr. Potter here with me and return to your beds." Her voice softened, "Well done, each of you, for taking good care of your school mate."

The guys smiled yet lingered for a moment.

"I'll see you all tomorrow," Harry said.

"See you tomorrow Harry," Michael said.

"Get better quick!" Terry said.

Anthony nodded. "I hope you feel better soon."

Turning back to the nurse as the three left, Harry saw she was looking at him with slightly squinted eyes.

"Uh, miss?"

"It's Madame. Madame Pomfrey"

Harry quickly glanced at his status when he noticed his HP drop another point.

"Can you help me Madame Pomfrey?"

"Yes, yes, of course. One moment."

She pulled out a potion from somewhere, Harry couldn't tell from where exactly, and held it out to him.

"Here, drink this."

Harry took the potion and thought _Observe_.

 **Potion of Wellness [Average]  
** **A potion crafted to provide many general health benefits.  
** **Drinking this potion will restore 75 health points.**

Harry took off the stopper. Taking a sniff, Harry was surprised to note that it smelled faintly of strawberries.

"We had to change the smell since so many students complained," noted Madam Pomfrey.

"Was it that bad?" Harry asked, before taking a gulp.

"Drink all of it please," she said. "But yes, it _was_ rather foul."

Finishing the potion with a few more gulps, Harry felt better immediately. Another check of the status screen showed his HP was sitting at the maximum 120 points again. The curse remained, however.

Madam Pomfrey eyed him and swished her wand over and around once more.

"There's still something there," she said. "It's rather unusual that I am not able to identify it, I must say."

 _What do I say?_

"Do you recall eating anything unusual?"

Harry shook his head. "No, madam."

"Perhaps you recall another student casting a spell on you?"

"No Madam Pomfrey, I don't think so," Harry said.

"Hmm, take this," she handed him another of the same type of potion. "If you start feeling unwell again, drink it. I will be right back."

Harry used _Observe_ on Madam Pomfrey as she was making her way back to the room she had earlier appeared from.

 **Class: Hogwarts Healer  
** **Title: Matron  
** **Level: ?  
** **Name: Poppy Pomfrey  
** **Description: Poppy Pomfrey is the Hogwarts school nurse, known as Madam Pomfrey to the students at large. Poppy is a highly competent nurse who is well-known in her field for being extraordinarily talented in healing magic. Poppy is very possessive of the patients in her care and has a great desire to heal people.**

Harry double checked he wouldn't be seen and tapped on the _Hogwarts Healer_ class.

 **Hogwarts Healer  
** **As with all Hogwarts staff classes, the Hogwarts Healer class provides a bonus to spellcasting within the school and its grounds. The Hogwarts Healer class provides a bonus to healing spellcasting and potency within the school and its grounds. The Hogwarts Healer class bonus is doubled in the Hogwarts Hospital Wing.**

 _Do the teachers and staff know they are provided bonuses while at the school? What determines the boundary of the area of effect for that anyway?_

Harry looked up some minutes later as Madam Pomfrey returned along with another person. A smaller figure followed behind her, who Harry recognised as his head of house, Professor Flitwick.

"Good evening Mr. Potter," Flitwick said as he walked up to Harry.

"Good evening Professor."

"I see it didn't take you very long to get acquainted with our esteemed matron. Madam Pomfrey informed me that you were here, as I am your head of house. This is standard procedure."

Harry nodded.

"I also happened to offer my assistance when I was told about an unidentifiable magical presence," Flitwick continued, "as Madam Pomfrey felt it was likely the cause of your condition."

"I understand," Harry said. "So, um, thanks for coming."

"Think nothing of it, it is my duty to take care of my eagles. Though, I admit I do so enjoy a mystery," Flitwick said smiling. "Oh, but you must be quite tired. Hopefully, with my help, this case will be solved soon and we can get you back to bed."

"In a hospital bed," Madam Pomfrey supplied.

"Ah well, that may not be entirely necessary," Flitwick said.

"Professor, if I decide a student is better off staying in the Hospital Wing then I have the authority to make that judgement."

"Of course my dear, I apologise." Flitwick winked at Harry who smiled back at him. "Now let's see."

Harry watched as the diminutive Professor cast several spells, all silently, before frowning. He paused, muttering to himself before swishing and flicking his wand once more.

"Have you, err, identified anything?" Harry asked after a brief pause.

"Well, I'm sorry to say the only conclusion I have drawn so far is the same as Madam Pomfrey. You seem to be cursed."

 _I knew that already._

"Cursed?" Harry asked, in what he hoped was a believable tone of shock and surprise.

"Quite so," Flitwick stroked his chin. "What is particularly fascinating is that, while it seems to be a relatively benign curse, all the regular counter curses aren't affecting it whatsoever. I even tried a few more exotic variations."

"Indeed," Madam Pomfrey said. "I determined that it is a weakening curse of some sort, and it appears to get progressively worse the longer it remains. It's fortunate a basic wellness potion was able to counter the effects."

"Very fortunate, I can easily see this curse having lethal consequences if treatment isn't available."

"Were you able to detect the duration?" Pomfrey asked.

"Not as accurately as I would have liked, but I estimate it will last no longer than a day or two."

"Yes, I agree."

After a moment of silence, Harry spoke, "Then, what do we do?"

"I will need to inform the headmaster of this incident," Flitwick said, "I believe it is crucially important that he be made aware."

"As for you, Mr. Potter," Madam Pomfrey said. "You will be staying here under my supervision with regular doses of wellness potion."

"Alright," Harry agreed.

"I will also take this opportunity to do a thorough health examination. For whatever reason, I have been unable to find any of your medical records."

"Oh, well, that's possibly because I am muggle raised," Harry offered.

"Not bad reasoning Mr. Potter, but I would still have those records. Not to worry, I will ensure your medical history from Hogwarts is fully comprehensive."

"Very good," Flitwick said. "I will say good night now, but I will remind you we still have a meeting planned for tomorrow, Mr. Potter."

"Yes, I haven't forgotten Professor."

"Very good. I'm impressed with your dedication to punctuality," Flitwick smiled, "but I would rather say this is a tad too early."

Harry grinned.

"Until tomorrow then," Flitwick said, before walking to the exit.

"Good night, Professor," Harry said.

"Now, into bed with you young man," Madam Pomfrey ordered. "The one beside you just there."

Harry moved to the bed.

"I will come to you in an hour for you to take another potion. Do try to get some sleep now."

"I will try, Madam Pomfrey."


	10. Chapter 10

In a shadowed corner of the hospital wing, under the concealing fabric of a particularly special magical cloak, Albus Dumbledore stood and watched. In combination with several spells, he was not only completely invisible but near impossible to detect, magically or otherwise.

"I will come to you in an hour for you to take another potion. Do try to get some sleep now," Madam Pomfrey said.

"I will try, Madam Pomfrey," said Harry.

Albus looked on as Madam Pomfrey entered her office, leaving Harry to climb into his temporary bed. It was only a matter of minutes until Harry had settled in and fallen asleep.

With sure steps, Albus approached the bed and peered down at Harry's sleeping form. Taking out his wand, Albus waved it over Harry. He paused for a moment as he reflected on the information he received. Moving his wand again but in a more intricate pattern, Albus mumbled before pausing and stroking his beard in contemplation. After a minute of thought and a silent "Ah yes!" he swished his wand again. Taking a moment to sort through the feedback from the spell, Albus lowered his wand and frowned.

Albus' train of thought was broken moments later as Harry began to mumble and shift in his sleep, his eyes moving rapidly behind their closed lids. Albus raised his wand again as Harry's face quickly contorted into a deep frown and his breathing began to quicken.

With a quick twist and a sharp jab, Albus directed a bright blue spell at Harry's forehead.

Almost immediately, Harry quieted. His frown eased and his breathing slowed. Albus continued his observation until a small smile slowly took form on Harry's face.

"Sleep well, my boy," Albus said, his voice audible only to himself.

Turning around, Albus headed towards the nurse's office. As he walked, he cast his wand in a large clockwise swirl, conjuring an ethereal silver phoenix. With a whisper, he instructed the patronus to deliver a message and sent it away.

As he reached the office door, Albus tapped himself with his wand, removing the various concealing spells, and pulled off the invisibility cloak. Gently wrapping his knuckle on the door, he opened it partially and was able to see Madam Pomfrey sitting in a chair by a desk, leaning over some parchment.

"Good evening Poppy, apologies for the disturbance," he said. "May I come in?"

"Oh, Albus." She rolled up the parchment and neatly set it aside. "Yes, of course. Do come in."

With a flick of her wand, Poppy conjured a comfortable armchair.

"Thank you, my dear," Albus said, seating himself.

"I take it you're here regarding Mr. Potter?"

"Quite so."

Poppy nodded. "It's quite an interesting case, if I may say so. A curse which seems to slowly weaken the body until death. Though lethal if left alone, the curse effects are easily mitigated by a simple potion, but not by counter curses. It is a curse I have not come across before."

Albus nodded and stroked his beard.

Poppy waited a moment then continued. "I shall be waking Mr. Potter again in a short while in order to administer another dose."

"Ah, very good," Albus said. "It's all in hand then."

Poppy raised an eyebrow. "Albus, did you check on the boy before coming to see me?"

"I did. I admit I was rather concerned," Albus said. "Ah, I do understand that the regulations state I am to notify you of my presence beforehand, but I thought it prudent to lend my expertise in a timely manner as possible."

Waving her hand dismissively, Poppy said, "And? What did you discover?"

"It is, as you described, quite a lethal curse. It is rather unfortunately unaffected by any counter curse I can think of. Fortunately, it shall disappear on its own accord in little under a full day. Mr. Potter will, of course, require your expert attention until then."

"You are certain about the duration?" Poppy scribbled a note on some fresh parchment.

"As confident as one can reasonably be about these things."

"And do you have any idea as to the curse itself? Where it came from? I was under the impression that you are notified whenever dark magic is cast within the castle wards."

"Indeed I am," Albus said. "However, the wards are not infallible despite how clever and powerful they certainly are. Unfortunately, I do not know the origin of this curse. I know not what the incantation may be named nor who may have cast it. It is rather intriguing I must say."

"Quite intriguing indeed." Poppy paused in thought. "So, what will you do, Albus?"

"For now, our top priority must be to ensure that Mr. Potter survives this curse. As for the origin of the curse, I shall consult some of the, ah, less reputable books in my private collection. They may provide some insight." Albus stroked his beard. "I shall also question those in his dorm so that we have as full an understanding as possible."

Poppy nodded.

"I believe it would be preferable if the details of this evening were kept quiet. I have already contacted Filius to ensure he is made aware but otherwise, no others need know of what has transpired."

"Of course, Headmaster."

"There is one more thing," Albus said.

"What is it?" Poppy asked.

"I had heard that young Harry was rather small for his age. Upon closer inspection, it is easy to understand the cause of these reports. I would very much appreciate if you could perform a thorough examination."

"Yes, of course. I was planning on doing so anyway as we do not seem to have any of his previous medical records. Do you have any idea why that might be?"

"Unfortunately not. That is rather concerning," Albus said. "I shall make some inquiries."

Albus paused a moment. "Please offer all the assistance young Harry may require in regards to his health. Should you deem it necessary, I will ensure that the funds are available for the acquisition of any and all potion ingredients."

Poppy frowned at him, "You suspect he will be needing such… extra care?"

"The possibility unfortunately exists. Spare nothing, madam."

Poppy hesitated but nodded. "I understand, headmaster."

"Then, I shall take my leave. Good evening."

* * *

"You three may enter," Harry heard Madam Pomfrey's voice. "But please do remember this is a hospital, not a common room."

A round of agreements and acknowledgements preceded the appearance of Harry's dorm mates.

"Heya Harry!" Terry said first as they surrounded his bed. "Feeling better?"

"Much better, thanks," Harry said, sitting up in the hospital bed. "Also, before I forget, I wanted to say thanks for last night, it was really great of you all."

"No big deal," Terry said and the others nodded.

Harry smiled warmly.

"Will you be staying in the hospital wing for very long?" Anthony asked.

"Hopefully back out of here today, maybe. All I have to do is drink a potion every hour or so until the curse, er, runs out."

"Curse?!" all three chorused.

"Oh right," Harry grinned sheepishly, "I forgot that was news."

"Flitwick said that we shouldn't talk about you being here in the hospital wing, but we didn't know it was so serious," Michael said and the other two nodded.

"He did?"

"Yeah he came and spoke to us in the dorm room not long after we left you here," Terry said.

"But the curse… Madam Pomfrey wasn't able to remove it?" Anthony asked.

Shrugging, Harry said, "I suppose not. Professor Flitwick came to see me not long after you left too, so I guess he came to see you straight away after that. He couldn't remove it either. I'll be 'in this room until it's gone' according to Madam Pomfrey."

"That's not the important bit," Michael said waving his hand. "Where did the curse come from?"

"Yeah! Did someone curse you?" Terry said.

Harry glanced at them all individually.

 _If my hunch is right, then I do know where the curse came from… which means I would be lying if I said I didn't._

"What is it?" Michael said.

Harry concentrated. "I don't know where the curse came from."

 **Persuasion successful!**

 **Persuasion unsuccessful!**

Harry's eyes widened as he read the second message. Quickly gauging the reaction of the others, Harry saw Anthony was frowning at him.

Harry turned and faced him directly. "Anthony, I don't know where the curse came from."

 **Persuasion successful!**

After a moment Anthony smiled at him. "Yes Harry, I believe you."

Harry nodded and sat back in the bed, trying his best to hide the fact that all he could focus on was the quick and heavy thumping of his heart.

"It's a mystery," Michael said. "I can tell you truthfully it wasn't me though, Harry."

"Nor me," said Anthony.

They glanced at Terry.

"What?" Terry said, looking at each of them. "Of course it wasn't me."

Harry watched for a moment as they silently eyed each other.

"Whoever the source of the spell was, it wasn't any of you three," Harry said firmly. "In fact, let me tell you, I'm certain it wasn't."

Rounding on him, Michael said, "How can you be certain? You said you didn't know where it came from."

"That's still true," Harry held up his hands placatingly. "It's more that I am absolutely convinced none of you could have done it."

The three quieted.

"Aw shucks Harry," Terry said, pushing Harry's shoulder affectionately. "We like you too."

"Thanks, Terry," Harry said, grinning. "Yeah, you all really couldn't have done it." He paused. "The spell is way too complicated."

Terry stared at Harry for a second then glanced at the other two, giving them a 'get a load of this guy' look.

Shaking their heads, the others gave almost reluctant chuckles before Harry's loud snickers soon had all four laughing together.

 _Ahhh… I'm so lucky I was sorted into Ravenclaw._

Shortly after the laughter died down, Madam Pomfrey walked over with a refilled bottle.

"Time for your potion, Mr. Potter." The nurse took the stopper from the bottle and held it out to him.

Taking the offered potion, Harry brought it to his lips without any hesitation and drank it all in a few big gulps. Wiping his mouth on his sleeve, Harry handed the empty container back to the matron. "Thank you Madam Pomfrey."

"You're quite welcome."

"How is it, Harry?" Michael said, eyeing the bottle skeptically. "I heard they taste really bad."

"It's pretty good actually," Harry said. "Tastes like strawberries."

"Hmm," Michael eyed the bottle with interest. "I do like strawberries."

Madam Pomfrey turned to Michael and raised an eyebrow. "Let's hope, Mr. Corner, that you don't find yourself in a situation where you can't simply trust Mr. Potters verdict."

"Er, right. Yes Madam Pomfrey," Michael said sheepishly.

With a wave of her wand over Harry, Madam Pomfrey nodded and wrote something down on a piece of parchment. "I will return again in one hour. For now, I believe you need to continue to rest. Boys, say your farewells to Mr. Potter for now. You may return again this afternoon at two o'clock."

"Yes Madam Pomfrey," they responded.

As the nurse left to return to her other duties, Michael offered Harry a bag.

"It's your school bag. I opened it to make sure it had your books in for the Herbology homework. Hope you don't mind."

Harry shook his head, "Of course not. Thanks for getting it for me."

"Don't want your big Ravenclaw brain getting too bored in here," Terry quipped.

"Also, we remembered that you still need to finish that homework," Anthony said, "even if you've been hospitalised."

"You're right. Besides," Harry grinned cockily. "can't let you three get ahead of me."

"Well," Michael said, "even further ahead, you mean."

Harry rolled his eyes exaggeratedly.

Grinning, Michael said "See you later, Harry. Hope you get out soon."

With a round of goodbyes, Harry was once more left alone, lying atop the hospital bed. The tall window behind him had begun to stream in a cool autumn light so he just took a moment to bask in the peace and quiet.

After some time, Harry sat up and looked at his school bag.

 _Guess I'll start the homework. Though, I wonder why I didn't get any quests to complete homework other than that one for McGonagall. This game is so inconsistent._

Harry sighed. Deciding that whatever the game had planned was not worth worrying about for now. Just as he was about to get out of bed he stopped himself thinking that perhaps it wasn't the best idea to do so without permission.

"Excuse me, Madam Pomfrey?" Harry asked in a carefully raised voice.

"Yes?" Madam Pomfrey said as she walked over. "What is it, Mr. Potter?"

"I was just wondering if it would be OK for me to do my homework here somewhere? Out of bed, I mean."

"Yes, well, you aren't acutely unwell, so it's not an unreasonable request. Come along over here. There is a table and chair here you may use."

Harry hopped out of the hospital bed, grabbing his schoolbag. The indicated table sat beside the door to the nurse's office.

"Thanks."

"You're quite welcome. Is there anything else?"

"No, thank you. I'm alright at the moment."

Nodding, Madam Pomfrey turned and entered the office, leaving the door open.

Taking his seat at the table, Harry laid out his homework and writing tools. Taking his time to feel the grip on the quil and smoothen out the parchment. He leaned forward and reread his notes on the assignment.

 _This won't be too hard._

Sometime later as Harry had neared the completion of his Herbology essay, a message appeared on his screen.

 **Through persistent use, your Penmanship skill has increased to level 4!**

Harry grinned as he dismissed the message.

 _At least I can get some use out of being stuck in here._

Taking a moment, Harry opened his status window and reviewed his progress so far.

 **Name:** Harry James Potter  
 **Class:** The Gamer  
 **Title:** Hogwarts Student  
 **Level:** 2  
 **Experience** 226/500

 **HP:** 113/120  
 **MP:** 2000/2000  
 **STR:** 5  
 **VIT:** 6  
 **DEX:** 8  
 **INT:** 9  
 **WIS:** 10  
 **LUK:** 8

 **Points:** 0  
 **Money:** 29G, 2S, 4K

 **Skills:**

 **Persuasion** [LV 2]  
 **Spellcasting** [LV 2]  
 **Penmanship** [LV 4]  
 **Observe** [LV 3]  
 **Potioncraft** [LV 1]  
 **Escape Instant Dungeon** [LV MAX]

 **Effects:**

 **Curse of Death**

 _Odd that the Penmanship skill increased so quickly. I definitely don't feel like I used that skill more than the Observe skill, for example. Perhaps some skills are easier to gain levels in than others?_

Harry scratched his cheek then scanned through the rest of the status output.

Eyeing the Curse of Death listed under Effects, Harry tapped it to reveal the summary and read the description 'There is no light without darkness'.

Harry frowned in thought.

 _A curse randomly appears which lasts for 24 hours just as the Blessing of Life, which also lasts 24 hours ends. This seems too suspicious to just be a coincidence._

 **Due to your thoughtfulness and insight, you have gained 1 Wisdom!**

 _Looks like I was right? If I'm able to use that as a confirmation of my suspicion... Or is that just because I was thinking carefully again?_

Leaning back in his chair, Harry ran his hands through his hair and let out his breath in a sigh.

 _I was supposed to have that meeting with Professor Flitwick in his office today._

Harry stood and peered into the nurse's office and saw that Madam Pomfrey was at a desk writing in a book.

"Excuse me, Madam Pomfrey?"

The nurse set down her writing tools with practiced care and turned to face Harry. "Yes, Mr. Potter?".

"I was supposed to have a meeting with my Head of House, Professor Flitwick, today at eleven o'clock. I think that must be quite soon?"

"Hmm," Madam Pomfrey flicked her wand. "Yes, it's about twenty minutes to eleven right now."

"Well," Harry rubbed the back of his head. "Even though you said I am to stay in here. Could I go and meet him?"

Shaking her head. "I'm afraid that's quite impossible, Mr. Potter. You must stay here in the hospital wing until the curse placed upon you is completely gone."

Sagging, Harry nodded.

"However, I see no reason Professor Flitwick can't see you here. There are ways and means of having private conversations wherever you may be."

"Yes!" Harry's eyes lit up. "Please, if that's at all possible."

"Then, I shall inform Professor Flitwick of your incarceration," Madam Pomfrey smiled a little playfully. "So that he may meet you here instead."

"Incarceration?" Harry frowned. "What does that mean?"

"Oh, heavens," Madam Pomfrey grumbled. "The one time I try to make a joke out of it and it goes straight over the audience's head."

"Sorry?"

"To be incarcerated is to be imprisoned. Or more mildly put one is confined. Such as you are currently confined to my hospital wing though you would much rather be elsewhere." Madam Pomfrey raised her eyebrow questioningly at the last.

"Err, well, yes. Though I don't really feel imprisoned, well maybe a little confined. It's easier than… Well, you're actually very nice and-"

"Yes, yes," Madam Pomfrey smiled. "It's only natural to want to be free from restriction, Mr. Potter. Just know I am keeping you here for your own good."

"Yes, I understand."

"Very well then. Return to your things and I will contact the Professor."

"Alright." Harry paused. "Thank you Madam Pomfrey."

 **Hidden Quest completed.**

 **Reward: 50 EXP, increased relationship with Madam Pomfrey.**

Controlling himself so as not to react to the message, Harry walked back to his nearly completed homework and sat before reading the text.

 _A Hidden Quest? Not bad EXP. Now more than halfway to level three! I wonder how many other hidden quests there are…_

A short time later, as Harry was carefully reviewing his homework for the third time a high pitched squeak of a voice startled him from just behind his shoulder.

"Oh very good! Very diligent!" Professor Flitwick beamed at him.

"Ah uh!" Harry said in surprise.

"Completing your homework even while hospitalised. Very good work Mr. Potter. 2 points to Ravenclaw."

"Thanks, Professor!"

Waving his hand, Flitwick dismissed the thanks and indicated towards a set of comfortable looking chairs that hadn't been there earlier. "Come over here and sit with me, Mr. Potter."

Harry smiled and followed his Head of House to the chairs. Taking his seat he found it to be very comfortable, but not so much so that he would be distracted by it.

"Tea?" Flitwick pointed to the small set of china which sat atop a table beside him.

"That definitely wasn't there a moment ago!" Harry said in surprise.

Chuckling, Flitwick nodded vigorously. "Yes, that's right. I'm very happy to see you are able to notice that. There is a subtle charm applied in combination with the conjuring which makes the sudden appearance less likely to be noticed. Usually, people don't realise."

Harry sat silently, absorbing the knowledge.

"However, I still would like to know if you want some tea."

"Oh! Yes please."

A moment later, a cup of hot tea hovered over from the table to sit in the air in front of Harry.

"Wow."

Flitwick clapped. "Oh, how I do love the faces of new students when they see this kind of magic for the first time."

Harry took the tea and blew air into it to cool it down.

"Though that only works for those who haven't seen magic like that before, of course. Muggleborns mainly. And those like yourself, Mr. Potter."

"Like me?" Harry asked.

"Yes, indeed. Well of course you know now that your parents were both magical. Terrible that you weren't aware of that sooner. Others don't have magical parents at all, so nearly all the magic they see and experience at Hogwarts is for the first time."

Harry nodded, thinking of Hermione.

"In your case, while you have magical parents, and under better circumstances, there would have been a different outcome, you are also experiencing many types of magic for the first time. At least to your recollection."

"Yes, I have definitely experienced a lot of new things already," Harry said.

"I can imagine so," Flitwick said. "I remember back to when I first started at Hogwarts. What a wonderful time."

"It has been great so far," Harry said sincerely.

"Wonderful! Part of my duty as your Head of House is to ensure you are well taken care of in your time here, so I am very happy to hear that."

Harry took a moment to drink some of his tea while he looked at his Head of House. _Observe._

 **Class: Hogwarts Professor  
** **Level: ?  
** **Name: Filius Flitwick  
** **Description: Filius Flitwick is the head of Ravenclaw house at Hogwarts. As a Hogwarts Professor, Filius teaches the Charms class as the Charms Master. Filius is a powerful wizard with a history of wins and eventual championship in dueling. He is a wise and caring man who prides himself in taking care of his students. His short stature is due to his half-goblin heritage.**

"I think there's a lot I can learn from you, Professor," Harry said.

"Yes? Indeed that is probably true. Though I like to believe that every new student brings an education with them, one which I also benefit from. Every year, with every new person, I seem to learn so many new things."

Harry nodded. Wise seemed to be a good choice of words.

 _I wonder what his wisdom stat is._ Harry grinned to himself.

"I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about my parents?" Harry said.

"Yes of course. I imagine you're quite curious about them. I will tell you what I know. Though perhaps to tell you all will take more time than we have today."

"We could arrange a regular meeting?" Harry asked.

"Oh that would be a lovely thing wouldn't it." Flitwick smiled. "I will have to ensure it doesn't clash with either of our schedules, however. For now, let's say I will contact you again when I have some time to spare, and if you are also available then we can have another chat."

"That sounds great."

"You know, I actually had a similar arrangement with your mother. Lily Evans she was called at that time. A marvellously brilliant witch. She was gifted in Charms. I could imagine she would have been a well-placed replacement for myself as the Charms Master of Hogwarts, given the opportunity."

Harry leaned forward, listening with rapt attention. Careful to commit all the details to memory.

"But it wasn't only Charms she was proficient in. I do recall that she was highly capable in all subjects. A model student, and of course she was Head Girl, just as your father was Head Boy."

Recalling the picture he had seen, Harry nodded and waited silently for Flitwick to continue.

"Your father was of course extremely talented as well. Both of them seemed to be able to utilise magic effortlessly, at least in comparison to their peers." Flitwick looked far away, stroking his chin. "Of course it's not true. It was not truly effortless I mean. They both worked diligently to learn what they did, and to be as capable with magic as they were."

Harry nodded.

"You would do well to remember that too, Harry."

"Yes, Professor. No matter how talented they were, they had to work hard to become great."

"That's correct. And great they were." Filius paused. "When people think of that day -the day you triumphed over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named- they say it was a wondrous day of victory and of course a day for celebration. I wonder if the scales of the world tipped in the other direction. The loss of your two parents against the defeat of Voldemort."

Harry sat in silence, staring at the professor. Their eyes locked for a few moments.

"That's not something one should dwell on, however," Flitwick said, finally. "We are here now, and that is in part due to the events of that day."

Harry took another sip of the cooling tea.

"Your father was particularly gifted in Transfiguration. I think you would do well to seek out a similar meeting such as this with Professor McGonagall. She was very fond of James and will have several unique stories for you."

"I will. Definitely."

Harry paused for a moment. "Professor, you say my parents were both gifted."

"That's right."

"Did they have actual magical gifts, or abilities, which made them learn faster?"

Flitwick studied Harry before he answered. "Not that I'm aware of. Why do you ask?"

"Well…" Harry started.

 _It's now or never Harry._

"I think, maybe I do?" Harry said.


End file.
